Hilton Oks Plan To Split Company

Hilton Hotels Corp. directors on Tuesday approved a plan to split the company into separate hotel and casino businesses.

Hilton announced the plan on May 11 after efforts to find a buyer for all or part of the company proved unsuccessful.

The company’s stock rose $1.37 1/2 to $70.12 1/2 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. It had traded as high as $79.75 recently but fell after Hilton failed to find a buyer offering what it deemed an adequate amount.

While Hilton is best known as a hotel company, its smaller casino operations until recently had shown higher profits and sales growth.