EY’s Shelved Breakup Proves That Even Halted Splits Are Costly

Ernst & Young’s planned spinoff of its consulting business and much of its tax practice may have fizzled, but it still left a long trail of bills to pay.

The firm through an entity called EYGS LLP set up a $700 million credit line to fund efforts to split up its global business and also increased the size of a second credit facility to $450 million, financial statements filed with the UK government show.

Complex, global carve outs typically require teams of lawyers, consultants and marketing pros to legally separate the businesses and to prepare the new ...