Company releases territorial divisions (8)
I believe the answer is:
counties
'territorial divisions' is the definition.
(county is a kind of territorial division)
'company releases' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'releases' becomes 'unties' (releases someone tied up).
'co'+'unties'='COUNTIES'
(Other definitions for counties that I've seen before include "administrative areas" , "Administrative divisions" .)