ITT board approves spin-off of water, defense companies

The board of directors at ITT Corp. (White Plains, NY) has approved the distribution to its shareholders of all of the outstanding shares of Xylem, Inc., ITT’s water technology and services business, as well as the outstanding shares of ITT’s defense and information solutions business Exelis, Inc., thereby creating three distinct publicly traded companies. As of the close of business on October 17, each ITT shareholder received one share each of Xylem and Exelis common stock for each ITT share held. “By operating as three independent companies, we believe the new ITT, Xylem, and ITT Exelis will each be able to leverage our shared history of innovation while being better positioned to capitalize on new opportunities in their respective markets,” said Steve Loranger, ITT’s chairman, president, and CEO. The ITT Board also approved a 1:2 reverse stock split for ITT, which will become effective after the market closes on October 31, 2011, which is the distribution date for the spin-offs.