IASB December 2007

The Board decided to add to its active agenda a project on common control transactions. Business combinations involving entities or businesses under common control are excluded from the scope of IFRS 3 Business Combinations. As a consequence, practice diverges on the accounting for those transactions in the acquirer’s consolidated and separate financial statements.

The project on common control transactions will examine the definition of a business combination involving entities or businesses under common control and the methods of accounting for those transactions in the acquirer’s consolidated and separate financial statements. The Board observed that similar issues arise with respect to the accounting for demergers, such as the spin-off of a subsidiary or business. Therefore, the Board decided to include demergers in the scope of the project.