NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - DuPont Co., the largest chemical company in the United States, said Monday it would create a new textile unit with the intent of spinning it off from the company.

DuPont (DD: up $0.88 to $48.47, Research, Estimates) said the new wholly owned subsidiary, DuPont Textiles & Interiors, would include the company's nylon, polyester fibers and Lycra operations and would have annual sales of about $6.5 billion.

Shares of the company rose more than 4 percent on the news.

"A company can operate successfully for 200 years only by continually reinventing itself," said DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles Holliday, Jr.

Company officials said they would consider a full range of options for the new unit, including an initial public offering, with intent of separating the division from the company by the end of 2003.

DuPont said it had hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to assist in the evaluation process.

DuPont also said it was reorganizing its other businesses into five separate units: Electronic & Communication Technologies, Performance Materials, Coatings & Color Technologies, Safety & Protection, and Agriculture & Nutrition.

--from staff and wire reports