General Electric, the 13-decade-old conglomerate founded by Thomas Edison, announced plans earlier this month to split up into three separate companies focused on aviation, health care, and energy.

Whether this will ultimately lead to greater profits is unclear, but one thing is certain: breaking up a company of this size and stature poses numerous legal and logistical hurdles. On today's episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, three reporters from three different desks in our newsroom discuss the most significant issues that could arise as GE pursues this move.

Kyle Jahner, who covers IP issues for Bloomberg Law, talks about how GE's numerous patents, trade secrets, and brands could be divvied up. Environmental reporter Daniel Moore talks about who will inherit GE's sizable cleanup liabilities and what this breakup will mean for renewable energy. And Bloomberg Tax's Michael Rapoport tells us whether GE will be able to achieve tax-free status from the IRS for the spinoff.

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