Visteon slims down before spin-off

In a move that sets up its spinoff, Visteon Corp. commits to a joint venture with Pilkington plc, the London-based glassmaker. The No.1 supplier of automotive safety glass, Pilkington will assume majority ownership and manage operations, controlling 81% of Visteon's glass business. For Pilkington, the move expands its share in the U.S. market. For Visteon, the joint venture is seen as trimming the fat - dumping the low profitability and high costs of the glass business - in the hopes of increasing profitability and desirability on Wall Street when the partsmaker separates from parent Ford Motor Co. Ford stockholders received one Visteon share for approximately eight Ford shares June 12. June 28 was the date set for Visteon's spinoff and initial public offering. The opening stock price was set at $11.58 per share, giving Visteon a market value of $1.54 billion.