Chemical producer DuPont (DD) has announced plans to break itself into three separate publicly traded companies.
The new companies will focus on materials with brands such as Tyvek and Kevlar, one serving the semiconductor industry, and a third that is focused on water purification.
DuPont also announced that chief executive officer (CEO) Ed Breen will step down on June 1 of this year and be replaced by current chief financial officer (CFO) Lori Koch.
Breen will remain executive chairman of DuPont going forward.
After the break-up, the new Dupont will be a materials company serving the medical, industrial, construction, and automotive markets.
The new standalone electronics business will serve the semiconductor industry, and the water business will sell filtration and purification technologies.
This is not the first time that DuPont has broken up its business. The company merged with Dow Chemical (DOW) in 2017 and then formed three separate companies.
Since that deal concluded, DuPont’s stock has risen about 25% compared with a 207% return in the benchmark S&P 500 index over the same period.
In the last 12 months, DuPont’s stock has risen 17% to trade at $78.55 U.S. per share.
Other companies have split their businesses in recent years, including General Electric (GE) and Danaher Corp. (DHR).
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