Limited Inc. May Split Up Its Apparel Businesses, Sell Shares

Retailer Limited Inc., which owns the Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain, said Tuesday that it is considering a restructuring plan that would create two publicly held companies.

Analysts said the plan is designed to show off the company’s lingerie business, which is outpacing other units.

One of the new companies would probably be made up of Victoria’s Secret Stores and Catalog, Bath & Body Works, Cacique, Penhaligon’s and Gryphon, Chairman Leslie Wexner said in a statement.

The other would probably consist of the women’s apparel businesses Express, The Limited, Lerner New York and Lane Bryant.

“The feeling is that the parts are worth more than the whole,” said Joseph Ronning, analyst with Brown Bros. Harriman in New York.

“The Victoria’s Secret stuff would sell at a big premium while the company as a whole is selling at a discount,” Ronning said. “The performance of the company is being dragged down by the big, big divisions.”

Terence McEvoy of Janney Montgomery Scott Inc. in New York, said, “This is a very positive move to unlock some hidden assets. . . .”

Under the plan, 10% to 15% of the new companies would be sold to the public and Limited would retain the remaining shares. Proceeds from all stock sales would go to shareholders.

Limited owns 4,884 stores and the Victoria’s Secret catalogue. It rose $2.375 to close at $22 a share Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Earnings for 1994 were $448 million, up 15% from 1993.