Westinghouse To Split Into Two

Westinghouse Electric Corp. is splitting in two - separating its growing broadcast empire from its shrinking industrial base in a move that will eliminate 1,100 jobs.

Although the move had been anticipated, the news Wednesday still had the power to electrify. Investors quickly began to speculate whether the new broadcast company, which includes CBS, will be a takeover target when it becomes independent next summer.

“Already the scuttlebutt is, ‘How much is it worth and who would take it?”’ said Robert Kanters, a market analyst for Legg Mason Masten Inc. in Pittsburgh.

“I don’t think until they start getting some better results out of CBS that that’s going to be an issue in the near term.”

The media company, which is searching for a name, will be based in New York. The industrial company, to remain in Pittsburgh, will be called Westinghouse Electric Co.

The industrial and media businesses are roughly equal in size, but the media side accounts for most of the stock’s value.

Under former PepsiCo executive Michael Jordan, Westinghouse has grown into a media company with 16 TV stations reaching one-third of the nation and 77 radio stations in 13 markets.

The company expects that as a broadcast business, Westinghouse will be able to increase profits faster than if it held onto its industrial half, which includes nuclear power generators and refrigerated trucks.

The $4.2 billion broadcasting company will consist of CBS Inc., the largest television and radio broadcaster; Group W Satellite Communications Co., a leading cable television marketing and distribution company; and Infinity Broadcasting, when that acquisition is completed.

The $4.6 billion industrial business will focus on electric power generators, including the world’s largest nuclear-power business, and its Thermo King mobile refrigeration line. It plans to sell 20 percent of the stock of Thermo King, leaving that business a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric.