Last month, people familiar with the matter had told Bloomberg that Schneider Electric had held early discussions about buying Tyco. But, Schneider’s CEO later ruled out a deal of that size. Reuters reported that even if Schneider’s courtship did not materialize, there were likely other suitors for pieces of Tyco such as United Technologies Corp. (UTC), Honeywell and Siemens.
The talks are still at a relatively early stage, and Schneider has not yet chosen the firms with which it would partner, two sources close to the situation told the New York Post.
There is also the possibility several private-equity firms will partner and make their own offer for Tyco, the newspaper said citing a source.
“Our CEO expressed himself clearly at the time of our earnings report on this topic and we have nothing to add,” Schneider spokesman Anthime Capriolit told Reuters, referring to Jean-Pascale Tricoire’s firm denial last month of any plan for large-scale acquisitions “now and in the foreseeable future.”
In business news, Tyco’s security solutions business, which includes ADT Security services, posted a 3.5-percent higher profit but grew 25-percent excluding acquisition costs, while the fire protection business posted 24-percent earnings growth. Tyco’s acquisition of Broadview Security, formerly Brink’s Home Security, last year added 1.3 million customers to the ADT numbers.
For the period ended March 25, Tyco reported a profit of $315 million, or 66 cents a share, up from $310 million, or 65 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding the impact of Tyco’s divested electrical and metal products business and other items, adjusted earnings from continuing operations were 73 cents, up from 58 cents. Sales slipped 2 percent to $3.99 billion, matching forecasts.
