The next chapter for ITT can best be described as the conglomerate years. From 1960 to 1977, ITT acquired more than 350 companies and had a portfolio that included well-known businesses such as Sheraton hotels, Avis Rent-a-Car, Hartford Insurance and Continental Baking, the maker of Wonder Bread. During that time, ITT grew from a medium-sized business with $760 million in sales to a global corporation with revenue of $17 billion.
Following the conglomerate years, ITT began restructuring through strategic divestitures and acquisitions to organize the company into more manageable segments. It culminated in 1995 when ITT split into three separate, independent companies: ITT Corporation, which was focused on the hotel and gaming businesses; ITT Hartford, which became a stand-alone insurance operation; and ITT Industries, which started as a collection of manufacturing companies.
A decade later, ITT Corporation had been acquired, ITT Hartford had changed its name, and ITT Industries continued its transformation. ITT Industries, which changed its name back to ITT Corporation in 2006, played an important role in several vital markets, including water treatment and fluids management, global defense and security, and motion and flow control.