divestiture

American  

[dih-ves-ti-cher, -choor, dahy-] / dɪˈvɛs tɪ tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər, daɪ- /

Also divestment

noun

1. the act of divesting.

2. the state of being divested.

3. something, as property or investments, that has been divested.

   to reexamine the company's acquisitions and divestitures.

4. Also divesture the sale of business holdings or part of a company, especially under legal compulsion.

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divestiture Cultural  

1. The act of a corporation or conglomerate in getting rid of a subsidiary company or division. In a tactic to pressure South Africa to end apartheid, during the 1980s many Americans and Europeans urged divestiture on corporations doing business in South Africa.

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Etymology

Origin of divestiture

First recorded in 1595–1605; di- ² + (in)vestiture

Explanation

Divestiture is the act of getting rid of something. In business, companies sometimes use divestiture to scale down and save money, by selling off assets. If a corporation owns smaller companies that make snack food, clothing, and roller skates, it may decide it's time to save some money through divestiture. Unfortunately, that probably means selling off the roller skate company. To sell or otherwise rid yourself of something is to divest, which comes from a French word meaning "strip of possessions" or "strip of clothing," and the Latin root vestire, "to clothe."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divestiture

The divestiture of MSBC, which made up less than 2% of the company’s annual revenue, is expected to incur between $37 million and $39 million in non-cash charges during the current fiscal fourth quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

In addition to the cash consideration, Theravance shareholders will receive contingent value rights entitling them to 80% of net proceeds from any future license, divestiture or other monetization of ampreloxetine within the next 10 years.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

Ostrover started selling his Commanders stake before the selloff in Blue Owl shares and the divestiture is unconnected to the margin loans, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

The results include a three-cent-per-share contribution from discontinued operations related to DuPont’s divestiture of its Aramids business, which closed on April 1.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

So near is exile to home, misery to divine commiseration--so near are pain and death, desolation and divestiture, to "a new creature," and to the kinship involved in all creation and re-creation.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 1 by Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle

Related Words

• disinvestment
• divestment