The market value of all the individual parts of a firm if the firm were to be broken up and the individual parts operated independently. If the breakup value of a firm exceeds the market value at which its stock trades, the firm may be managed and operated inefficiently. In such a case, stockholder holdings would increase in value if parts of the firm were divested. Many takeovers originate when raiders spot firms with breakup values that exceed the prices at which those firms' stocks are traded.
