3Com_s Palm Computing Going Public.

Computer network equipment maker 3Com Corp. said its highly successful Palm Computing subsidiary will become an independent publicly traded company. The company plans to carve two distinct entities from the new structure, which will enable 3Com and Palm to build on their own respective market leadership positions in networking and handheld computing, said Eric Benhamou, 3Com_s chairman and chief executive officer. "The Palm economy has emerged into a reality. It has reached critical mass," Benhamou said at a press conference in New York earlier today. 3Com expects to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in January for "up to 20 percent" of its Palm Computing shares, according to Janice Roberts, senior vice president of business development at 3Com. It will spin off the remaining shares to 3Com shareholders four to six months after that, she said. Under this plan, 3Com will own shares in both companies. It also intends to be a licensee of Palm_s technology following the spin-off, the company said. Palm Computing will also get its own chairman and chief financial officer, who will be named in the next few months, Benhamou said. It was also announced that James Barksdale, former chief executive of Netscape Communications and Gordon Campbell, president and chairman of Techfarm, will become members of Palm_s board of directors.