WILMINGTON, Del. -- DuPont Co., saying it is taking the next step in its transformation to a sustainable-growth company, announced the realignment of its businesses into five market- and technology-focused growth platforms. The company also said it will create a Textiles and Interiors subsidiary as part of a plan to eventually spin off the unit as a separate entity.

Under the realignment, the company's Performance Coatings business becomes part of the "growth platform" named DuPont Coatings & Color Technologies. The platform will be made up of businesses with annual sales of about $4.9 billion and will include DuPont Performance Coatings and DuPont White Pigment and Mineral Products, the world's top producer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments. The platform will be led by Group Vice President Edward J. Donnelly.

The other platforms are DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies, DuPont Performance Materials, DuPont Safety & Protection, and DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition. The five units "will be more tightly focused on markets and technologies," said DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday Jr. "This will enable faster execution and improved capability for innovation and shareholder-value creation."

The company said it would consider a full range of options for DuPont Textiles & Interiors, including an initial public offering, with the ultimate goal of separation by year-end 2003 if market conditions permit.