It can't be as simple an algorithm as:
1. Buy a company
2. Spin off major assets into another company
3. Have the original take debt and pay the money to the spinoff
4. Bankrupt the original, but keep the healthy spinoff without paying any of the debt
5. Profit!
... can it?
I asked this same question of my accounting prof in grad school. His answer was "You guys are very good at coming up with ways to commit fraud". Basically shareholders will sue the crap out of you - diverging debt is a very careful and meticulous process, and bag holders have legal recourse to come after you.
Individual shareholders have contractual rights that are guaranteed by the shareholder's agreement with the corporation, and shareholders will sue if there is negligence or other violations of this agreement. There are also varying degrees of control/rights depending on the class of equity - it's one of the reasons Warren Buffet only buys preferred stock.
It also functioned as a tax dodge: in the unlikely event of Maplin making an operating profit, the interest repayments would not have been taxable whereas other means of profit-taking would have been.
While that allows for some tax avoidance, in the grand scheme of things it does not allow for a lot.
It's also ridiculously destructive and abusive to all except the asset stripper.
Barbarians at the Gate is a classic business book about such a case (the takeover of RJR Nabisco).