Sometimes, such an action can be a spin-off. In the United States, divestment of certain parts of a company can occur when required by the Federal Trade Commission before a merger with another firm is approved. A company can divest assets to wholly owned subsidiaries. It is a process of selling an asset. The largest corporate divestiture in history was the 1984 U.S. Department of Justice-mandated breakup of the Bell System into AT&T and the seven Baby Bells. Of the 1000 largest global companies, those that are actively involved in both acquiring and divesting create as much as 1.5 to 4.7 percentage points higher shareholder returns than those primarily focused on acquisitions. Divestment for social goals Examples of divestment for social goals include: Disinvestment from Israel, a movement by critics of Israel (since 1920s) Disinvestment from South Africa in the former era of apartheid (1960s-1990s) Tobacco industry divestment, coordinated by the NGO Tobacco-Free Portfolios (since 2000s) Fossil fuel divestment in response to global warming, coordinated by the NGO 350.org (since 2010s) Factory farming divestment and big livestock divestment in response to environmental destruction, animal suffering, and human health concerns, coordinated by NGO Feedback Global. Method of divestment Some firms are using technology to facilitate the process of divesting some divisions. They post the information about any division that they wish to sell on their website so that it is available to any firm that may be interested in buying the division. For example, Alcoa has established an online showroom of the divisions that are for sale. By communicating the information online, Alcoa has reduced its hotel, travel, and meeting expenses. Firms use transitional service agreements to increase the strategic benefits of divestitures. Divestment execution includes five critical work streams: governance, tax, carve-out financial statements, deal-basis information, and operational separation. Companies often create cross-disciplined teams composed of IT, HR, legal, tax, and other key business units, to implement a business separation. With economic liberalization of the Indian economy, India's Ministry of Finance set up a separate Department of Disinvestments. See also Mergers and acquisitions Corporate spin-off Consolidation (business) Corporate social responsibility Demerger Disinvestment Fossil fuel divestment Financial economics Tax resistance Socially responsible investing Stranded asset References Investment Corporate finance Outsourcing