Victoria’s Secret flies solo

The L Brands Inc. separation of its two businesses is complete.

Victoria's Secret & Co. and Bath & Body Works Inc. began trading on their respective tickers on Tuesday. Shares of Victoria's Secret, trading under its new ticker symbol of VSCO, soared on the company's first day as a stand-alone public company, closing up 29.38% at  $59.50 each.

Shares of Bath & Body Works, trading under the new ticker symbol of BBWI, closed down 3.42% on Tuesday to $64 each. 

In May, L Brands announced a plan to separate Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works into two publicly traded companies through a tax-free spinoff that would be completed in August. The plan was approved by the board of L Brands in June. 

[Read More: Last call for L Brands] 

The separation comes as Victoria’s Secret has been working transform an image that many found outdated and out of touch. Most recently, it launched a major rebrand focused on diversity, inclusion and female empowerment. Victoria’s Secret new board will be made up of seven directors, six of whom will be women, including the chair.  

"On behalf of the management team and the board, I’d like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the associates who worked so hard on the successful spin-off of Victoria’s Secret," Andrew Meslow, CEO Bath & Body Works. " I am grateful to all of our associates for their contributions to the success of our business as we look forward to capturing the opportunities ahead and we wish the Victoria’s Secret business and associates well as they embark on their journey as a stand-alone public company.” 

We are thrilled to have reached this milestone and to launch Bath & Body Works as a stand-alone public company,” Meslow continued.  “Innovation remains at the foundation of Bath & Body Works and with our leadership positions across key product categories, strong performance across channels and highly loyal and growing customer base, we are poised to continue our track record of industry-leading growth and profitability."