Investing in spin-off firms — are they ever as good as the original?

Frasier — the spin-off that really did work

PA

Television spin-offs rarely live up to the original. I was surprised to learn that The Green Green Grass, based on the post-Only Fools and Horses lives of Boycie, Marlene and their son Tyler, ran for four series before being canned. I’ve heard they even tried a spin-off of Last of the Summer Wine called First of the Summer Wine. Sounds terrible to me.

What about investment spin-offs — are they also likely to fail to live up to their parent companies, or, like Boycie, can they thrive on their own?

A business spin-off happens when a big corporation decides to get rid of one of its divisions by listing it on the stock market in its own right.

The division might be