Tuesday, August 4, 2015 12:15 pm

CHICAGO (From the Wall Street Journal) -- R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. said Tuesday that it plans to split itself into three publicly traded companies, joining the recent wave of companies looking to spur growth by breaking up.

The Chicago-based company said it would separate into a financial communications and data services business with about $1 billion in sales; a publishing and print services business with $3.5 billion in annual sales; and a communications management business with about $7 billion in sales.

Chief Executive Thomas J. Quinlan III said the move will give each business more flexibility to focus on strategic priorities.

"We recognize that parts of the current portfolio will be more successful pursuing different strategies, and that these particular businesses offer the scale, expertise, product and service mix and other resources to excel as stand-alone companies," he said in a release.

R.R. Donnelley said it expects the move to be a tax-free distribution, with the spinoffs completed by the end of 2016. Existing shareholders will own shares in all three companies.

Companies from industrial conglomerate Danaher Corp. to Hewlett-Packard Co. have announced plans to break up their businesses recently. The trend has been fueled by the idea that companies with a narrower focus perform better. The moves in many cases have been well received by shareholders--and sometimes actively sought by them.