Agilent Technologies today announced plans to separate into two publicly traded companies: one in life sciences, diagnostics and applied markets (LDA) that will retain the Agilent name, and the other that will be comprised of Agilent’s current portfolio of electronic measurement (EM) products. The separation is expected to occur through a tax-free pro rata spinoff of the EM company to Agilent shareholders.
“Agilent has evolved into two distinct investment and business opportunities, and we are creating two separate and strategically focused enterprises to allow each to maximize its growth and success,” William Sullivan, Agilent president and CEO, said.
“Agilent’s history is one of reinvention, starting with our own separation from HP and including four major spinoffs since 2005. We are once again making a bold move, as we have done many times in the past, to ensure a future of sustainable growth for both the LDA and EM companies. We are focused on making this transition seamless for our customers.”
The company believes the separation will result in a number of benefits to the two standalone companies, including greater management focus on the distinct businesses of LDA and EM; the ability for the LDA company to devote resources to the higher-growth LDA business, while reducing exposure to the more cyclical EM industry; the ability for the EM company to devote resources to its own growth that were previously used to capitalize LDA.
