Business Combinations under Common Control: Concerns, Criticisms and Strides

Onesti Tiziano, Romano Mauro, Taliento Marco

[Dialogue with standard setters]

Although excluded from the scope of IFRS 3, business combinations under common control (BCUCCs) are widespread transactions that take place all over the world in different forms, often as a reorganization or restructuring among related parties. These transactions occur when entities are ultimately – not transiently – controlled by the same party/ies before and after the combination (which is neither a capital market nor an arm’s length transaction and devoid of economic substance: indeed, no change of control is entailed). The scarce and fragmentary literature, not to mention the lack of clear consensus on the topic, contributes to the prevailing concerns on how to account for BCUCCs. In this complex context, the purpose of this work is to assess the possible and various accounting methods and identify the most suitable, accredited and consistent techniques. […]

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Keywords: Common control, consolidation, financial reporting, acquisition accounting, fresh start, predecessor basis, pooling of interests, IAS/IFRS

 

Fiume, R., Onesti, T., Romano, M., & Taliento, M. (2015). Dialogue with standard setters. Business Combinations under Common Control: Concerns, Criticisms and Strides. Financial Reporting.