TOKYO, Feb 7 — Japan’s Toshiba on Monday announced plans to split into two companies, revising a controversial proposal to divide into three following a tumultuous period for the storied industrial conglomerate.
The firm also said it will unload its stake in air-conditioning business Toshiba Carrier and seek to sell its elevator and lighting units. Toshiba initially unveiled a plan to split into three last November, in what analysts called a test case for other Japanese giants. General Electric and Johnson & Johnson have announced spin-offs in recent months — a move analysts say is in large part forced on them by financial markets.
Last year, shareholders voted to oust the board’s chairman after a series of scandals and losses, in a rare victory for activist investors in corporate Japan.