Tech giant HP plans to split in two

Tech giant plans to separate PC, printer unit from services.

One company will focus on the PC and the other on business services.

Hewlett- Packard Co. is planning to split into two companies, separating its personal computer and printer division from its business services unit.

The Palo Alto company, which markets personal and business technology products, could announce the split as early as Monday.

Founded 75 years ago, Hewlett- Packard is one of the largest technology companies in the world. It reported $ 112 billion of revenue in the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2013, about half of that from its PC and printer division.

The company has a market capitalization of nearly $ 66 billion.

HP has been undergoing a transformation under the leadership of Meg Whitman, the former EBay Inc. executive who became its chief executive in September 2011 after a failed run to become California’s governor.

Under the planned separation, Whitman would become chairman of the company’s PC and printer division and CEO of the business services division, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported the planned separation Sunday.

Word of HP’s planned spinoff came just days after another huge Silicon Valley corporate breakup. Last week, Whitman’s former employer, EBay, announced that it was spinning its PayPal payment processing business into a separate company.

That news was cheered on Wall Street, where investors drove EBay shares up more than 7% on the news Tuesday.

HP shares closed Friday at $ 35.20 and are up 26% this year.

The company was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, who became friends at Stanford University and launched their business from a rented garage.