Ryoji Shoda, CEO of the newly created OT Group that will take over ASICS' Onitsuka Tiger business, and Yasuhito Hirota, chairman and CEO of ASICS, leave the venue after holding a press conference in Tokyo on June 10. © ReutersTOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan's ASICS on Wednesday said it will spin off its high-end Onitsuka Tiger business to speed up decision-making at a brand that has been a key profit driver thanks to a tourism boom and a surge in demand for its retro-inspired sports shoes.Under the plan, the nearly 80-year-old Onitsuka Tiger business will be transferred to OT Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, via a company split that will be effective on Jan. 1. There are no plans to take the OT Group public, ASICS CEO Yasuhito Hirota said at a press conference.Soaring sales at Onitsuka Tiger have led to four straight years of record profit for ASICS. Shares in the company, which competes with the likes of Nike, Adidas and Puma, have jumped roughly sevenfold over the past five years, giving it a market value of about $20 billion."As organizations grow too large, decision-making often slows as approvals become more layered and time-consuming," said Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ ESmart Securities. "So a spinoff is an ideal move for such fast-growing companies."Ryoji Shoda, who was named CEO of the newly created OT Group, said the brand's withdrawal from the U.S. in 2023 was due in part to a conflict in terms of approach between the management of ASICS America and Onitsuka Tiger.