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Dover To Spin Off Communications Businesses

Equipment maker Dover Corp. said Thursday that its board has approved a plan to spin off some of its communication technologies businesses into a new publicly traded company. The new company will be known as Knowles Corp. and products will include acoustic components such as microphones, speakers, receivers and transducers. It also will produce communication infrastructure components, Dover said.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP) -- Equipment maker Dover Corp. said Thursday that its board has approved a plan to spin off some of its communication technologies businesses into a new publicly traded company.

Dover shares rose almost 2 percent in premarket trading Thursday.

The new company will be known as Knowles Corp. and products will include acoustic components such as microphones, speakers, receivers and transducers. It also will produce communication infrastructure components, Dover said.

Jeffrey Niew, the current president and CEO of Dover's communication technologies unit, will serve as president and CEO of Knowles when the spinoff is completed, the company said.

Dover President and CEO Robert Livingston said the move to a standalone company will allow the businesses to pursue a more aggressive growth strategy.

Dover expects Knowles to post $1.3 billion in pro-forma annual revenue for 2013, with about two-thirds of that coming from acoustic products. Its prominent brands will include Knowles, Sound Solutions, Dielectric, Novacap, Syfer and Vectron.  

When the spinoff is complete, Dover expects its own pro-forma 2013 revenue to total between $7.4 billion and $7.6 billion. Its focus will be on energy, refrigeration, fluids, and printing and identification.

The spinoff is expected to be completed early next year. One-time costs are expected to total between $60 million and $70 million, Dover said.

Dover shares rose $1.46, or 1.9 percent, to $77.87 in premarket trading.

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