American Capital Ltd. To Split Into 3 Companies; Cut Jobs

American Capital Ltd. plans to split into three companies and cut an unspecified number of jobs. The Bethesda, Maryland-based private equity and asset management firm says under the plan, it will transfer most of its investment assets into two new companies and it would operate primarily as an asset management business. The arrangement would ultimately result in three publicly traded companies. The two new companies will be American Capital Growth and Income Ltd., with estimated equity of $3 billion, and American Capital Income Ltd., with roughly $1 billion of equity. Chairman and CEO Malon Wilkus said in a statement Wednesday that the move will benefit its shareholders and will allow the company to allocate its investments under two distinct strategies. American Capital also said that it is taking a number of cost-saving moves that will save $25 million annually, beginning in 2015. The majority of the savings will come through job cuts but it did not disclose how many positions would be eliminated.