Carrier Global Corp. is working on a plan to sell or spin off its Fire & Security business segment, which accounts for about 17% of the air-conditioning company’s sales, according to people familiar with the matter.

The process is in an early stage, the people said, and there is no guarantee the company will follow through.

The Fire & Security business accounted for $3.6 billion of Carrier’s total sales of $20.4 billion in 2022.

Demand for Carrier’s Fire & Security products, which are used across residential, commercial and industrial properties, was mixed in the most recent quarter, buffeted by slower new construction in some markets, management said on a conference call in February. That has helped spur calls from some investors and analysts for the company to consider separating out the division, which they consider a drag on its valuation. 

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Carrier shares were trading at $43.86 Tuesday, up about 3.5%, but down from a high near $60 in the summer of 2021. The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., company’s market value stood at about $36 billion Tuesday. 

Carrier was formed after United Technologies Corp. separated itself into three independent companies, breaking apart one of America’s last industrial conglomerates, a move completed in 2020. (The Otis elevator business was also separated.) 

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A number of companies have lately looked to shed divisions and streamline their operations. General Electric Co. spun off its healthcare unit into an entity known as GE HealthCare Technologies Inc., part of a breakup of the famed conglomerate. 

Last year Kellogg Co. said that it plans to break into three, separating its North American cereal and plant-based food businesses. In 2021, Johnson & Johnson said it would split into two companies, choosing the name Kenvue for the planned stand-alone company that would house consumer-health brands including Band-Aid and Tylenol. 

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Emerson Electric Co. said in October it would sell a majority stake in its climate-technologies business to private-equity firm Blackstone Inc., allowing the industrial company to streamline its business and expand its technology and automation offerings.