Possible IPOs Keep Tyco on the Rebound

Shares of Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) continued bouncing back Friday, climbing 9% after the largest maker of electronic connectors said it will sell a stake in at least one of its units to the public.

Tyco rose $3.88 to $48.50 in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares have risen 24% since Tuesday, when Chairman Dennis Kozlowski said Tyco may sell shares in its businesses that make wireless-network semiconductors and fiber-optic components for land-based communications networks.

The company said Friday that it filed for a $1-billion initial stock sale in its undersea fiber-optic cable business, now called TyCom Ltd. Tyco will decide whether to repeat the process with the other units after the TyCom sale takes place, a move that’s bound to sit well with shareholders, analysts said.

“Given the visibility on these value-creating transactions, the stock has to move higher,” said Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jeffrey Sprague, who rates Tyco a “buy” and raised his fiscal 2000 profit estimate to $2.20 from $2.10 a share and his fiscal 2001 estimate to $2.60 from $2.50.