Something may be up at IBM Corp’s Personal Systems division, although the suggestion that the thing will be floated off as an independent company within three weeks looks way over the top (CI No 1,972): several reports quote insiders saying that a spin off of the business is under consideration and Associated Press quotes computer executives saying that IBM may turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary to give it more freedom to compete in the ravaged market the division’s managers are considering several options, including the subsidiary structure, to give them more autonomy from IBM’s corporate headquarters, the executives said, speaking on condition of anonymity as a subsidiary, the business could more clearly separate its finances from the parent IBM company and AP suggests it would be freed of the burden of paying for IBM overhead from which it does not benefit but it would make much more sense to go the whole hog with a full Lexmark Internationl type divestment of it.
