PALO ALTO -- Hewlett-Packard will split its PC and peripherals business and its technology services offerings into separate business units, the company announced today. 

The PC and printer business, which makes up 51% of the company's sales, will maintain the HP name, while the services business will be rebranded as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

The split is expected to take place by Oct. 31, 2015, which marks the end of the company's fiscal 2015. Shareholders at the time of the split will get stock in both companies.

HP's revenue rose 1% year-over-year to $27.6 billion in the second quarter, its first quarterly gain since 2011. Printers and computers contributed 51 percent of the company's quarterly revenue, with the rest coming from technology services like consulting, software and financial programs.

Current HP CEO Meg Whitman will become head of the Enterprise business, while PC and printer chief Dion Weisler will become CEO of HP Inc.

It marks the second major splintering of HP, which previously divested its test and measurement business (which became Agilent) in 1999. The company was founded by inventors and Stanford engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. In 2011 Whitman had raise the idea of splitting the company but ultimately determined the timing wasn't right.

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