Abstract: A method of combining businesses by creating a target component map based on the business strategy of the resulting company, and using that target map to generate a component map for each constituent company in the combination. The constituent component map describes the current state of each component instantiated in the constituent company. Where there is no overlap between constituent companies with respect to components in the target map, those component instantiations are carried over to the resulting company. Where there is overlap, a comparative analysis is done and a ‘best fit’ component is recommended for inclusion in the resulting company. A transformation plan is developed to build the resulting company from those component instances selected for inclusion, in accordance with the target component map. Where the business strategy for building the resulting company includes a divestiture, the transformation plan provides alignment of the components to be divested in order to optimize the divestiture.