Apache Corp. said on Jan. 4 it plans to create a new holding company called APA Corp. that would replace the oil and gas producer as the public company trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Apache will become a unit of APA and continue to hold assets in the United States, subsidiaries in Egypt and the U.K., and its current economic interests in Altus Midstream Co. and Altus Midstream LP.

A holding company structure allows a firm to lower its tax bill, protect patents and diversify its unit’s businesses efficiently. In 2015, Google formed a holding company, Alphabet Inc., with distinct units under it.

The existing shares of Apache will be converted, on a one-for-one basis, into shares of common stock of APA, which will retain the ticker symbol “APA.”