Asian Tech Press (Feb 7) -- Japanese electronics giant Toshiba Corp (TYO:6502) said Monday it will split into two companies and sell off non-core assets, abandoning an initial three-way split.

Toshiba released a statement Monday saying it plans to spin off its electronic devices and storage solutions business, including semiconductors, and take it public.

It indicated that a split into two companies would be less costly and smoother than the initial plan.

The company said it would return 300 billion yen ($2.6 billion) in excess capital to shareholders over the next two years.

The Japanese conglomerate company will continue to hold shares in its memory chip business Kioxia Holdings Corp. and will seek to liquidate those shares immediately and return the proceeds to shareholders.

Toshiba also said it has classified its listed electronics business Toshiba Tec Corp. as a non-core asset.

Last August, it was reported that Toshiba would split itself into three units as early as 2023.

(US$1 = 115.3302 yen)