In case of an acquisition or merger, typically, the new company formed from the merger retains the codes of the old company. Products of the acquired company that were produced with its own GS1 prefix can continue to be produced with the same prefix, as the acquiring company now controls that specific prefix. Similarly, stock that the acquired company possibly retains does not need to be re-encoded with a new GTIN by the acquiring company. Alternatively, if preferred, the acquiring company can choose to release the specific products with its own corporate prefix. In any case, any changes must be communicated in a timely manner to trading partners.

If a company acquires a portion of another company, whose GS1 prefix is also used by other segments that have not been acquired, the acquiring entity must change the GTINs of the products of the acquired segment and the related GLN codes within a one-year period. Rules regarding the use of GTINs and other GS1 codes of the selling company should be taken into account when entering into the acquisition agreement. At the earliest opportunity, the acquiring company should assign new codes from its own code series to the products for which it has acquired the commercial brand, for example, when redesigning or reprinting the packaging.

When a company splits into two or more separate entities, the GS1 prefix assigned to the original company must be transferred to only one of the new companies. The company that remains without a GS1 prefix must apply to the national GS1 organization to obtain its own prefix. The decision regarding which company will take the new or old GS1 prefix should be based on minimizing the required changes to the GTINs. This decision should be part of the legal procedures. It is not necessary to assign new codes for existing product inventory. However, if any of the companies have products with a GS1 prefix that no longer belongs to them, they must assign new codes to those products using their own GS1 prefix when producing new labels or packaging. Customers should be promptly informed about these changes.