WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - ITT Corp. announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved a plan to separate the company’s businesses into three distinct publicly traded companies. Under the plan, ITT would execute tax-free spinoffs to shareholders of its water-related businesses and its Defense & Information Solutions segment.

Following completion of the transaction, ITT will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as an industrial company that supplies highly engineered solutions in the aerospace, transportation, energy, and industrial markets. Under the plan, ITT shareholders will own shares in all three corporations following completion of the transaction. ITT expects to finalize and execute the plan before the end of the year.

Following completion of the spinoff, the standalone water technology corporation will have a new corporate brand name and will be formed through the combination of three of ITT’s current businesses: Residential & Commercial Water, Flow Control, and Water & Wastewater.

The existing Defense & Information Solutions segment will be renamed and rebranded as a standalone company that is a provider of innovative technologies and operational services to meet the enduring requirements of the global military, government, and commercial customers. ITT Corp. will continue to be a diversified global manufacturer of highly engineered industrial products and high-tech solutions. Its global platform will include ITT’s current Industrial Process business, as well as its Motion Technologies, Interconnect Solutions, and Control Technologies businesses.

“In recent years, we have nurtured and grown our unique portfolio of businesses, which are now poised to emerge as three strong and focused standalone companies, with leading products and market positions, highly skilled employees, and tremendous value-generating potential for shareowners. In today’s business environment, we believe this strategy is the best approach to unlock this value and position the three businesses to grow and serve customers as focused global companies. Each new company will be more nimble and able to build stronger, more intimate customer relationships to accelerate mutual success,” said Steve Loranger, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of ITT.

Publication date:03/14/2011