Mumbai, March 30 :     Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited (Gesco) will hive off its property business into a separate company and restructure its board. The shipping major said the creation of a new company to handle its property businesses will enable it to enhance shareholder value. Gesco will list the new company on the stock exchanges and allot equity in this company on a proportionate basis to its existing shareholders. It will soon announce the allotment ratio of the new shares. It has appointed two valuers for this purpose. Gesco earned profit of about Rs 24 crore from its real estate business last year. Board recast The company has also appointed two new managing directors?Vijay K. Sheth at present executive director in charge of the offshore division and Bharat K Sheth who heads the shipping division. K.M. Sheth, the present chairman and managing director, and S. J. Mulji, deputy chairman and joint managing director, will relinquish their responsibilities but will stay on as executive chairman and executive deputy chairman respectively. K.M. Sheth and Mulji will now represent the company at various national and international fora and interact with different government organisations. K.M. Sheth said: ?The property division has contributed enormously to the company?s profitability over the past seven years. It is time to give the division a fresh impetus.? Company officials said Gesco?s property assets is valued at about Rs 230 crore. The properties which are being developed currently will not be transferred to the new company. The new company, which is yet to be named, will include those properties of GE Shipping which have not been taken up for development, the officials added. A company release said that properties and contracts, other than those de-merged, would remain in Gesco. The company expects to complete these in the next 18 to 24 months to be sold outright by it, the release added. The demerger is also aimed at facilitating the process of bringing in international collaborators to invest in the equity capital of the new company and provide suitable technical and marketing assistance. The company has begun talks with Sembcorp of Singapore.