Corporate reorganizations or restructuring can take many forms and shapes. Reorganizations may occur as a result of a succession planning, commonly known as an estate freeze. They may stem from an acquisition of another business or divestiture of a business that forms part of a larger group. In some situations, a management buyout may be the impetus, and each new shareholder will have various requirements. Sometimes, it may be as a result of a pending or current bankruptcy.

Commonly, restructuring is driven by one or more factors: tax, business, legal, compliance, family, divorces of business partners, government and many other reasons.

Restructuring a business can be a complicated process and all parties, including lawyers, accountants, owners and other advisers will be involved. Consents may be required from banks and government prior to the reorganizations.

In an estate freeze, business is passed from one generation to another generation. Many family owned businesses in Canada have been passed from the previous generation. Currently, many of the businesses in Canada have been started by baby-boomers. Those baby-boomers have been passing the torch to their children.