Agilent Plans To Split Into Two Companies

Agilent Technologies will split into two publicly traded companies through a spin-off to shareholders by the end of 2014. The firm’s higher-growth life sciences, diagnostics, and applied markets businesses will remain together under the Agilent name. That company is expected to have annual sales of about $3.9 billion. With sales of about $2.9 billion, the second, as-yet-unnamed, company will consist of Agilent’s more cyclical electronic measurement business. Ron Nersesian, former Agilent chief operating officer, has been named CEO-designate of the new electronic measurement firm.