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GE interested in Tyco units
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January 28, 2002: 7:32 a.m. ET
Report: Conglomerate may bid on financial services operations.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Tyco International Inc., which said it will break into four smaller publicly traded companies, is in early talks with companies interested in buying some of the units, according to a published report Monday.
To date, Tyco has only said it will sell its plastics unit, which it values at $3 to $4 billion. But "if someone came and were terribly interested in pieces of [our] property, we'd bring it to the board," Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski said in a conference call last week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Last week, Tyco said it will create four new companies comprising of its security and electronic, financial services, health care, and fire protection and flow control units through initial public offerings.
Tyco said it will float about 20 percent of each new company and distribute the remaining shares to Tyco shareholders.
General Electric may be the frontrunner for a few pieces of Tyco. GE's chairman and CEO, Jeffery Immelt, said last week the company will "play offense" and "evaluate what actions they're taking and see where we go."
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GE was interested in financial services firm CIT before Tyco bought it in 2001 for $9.2 billion. GE contracted Tyco about a possible bid, which could approach $10 billion, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Tyco has said it will use the proceeds from unit sales and the initial public offerings to eliminate $11 billion in debt.
Tyco (TYC: Research, Estimates) shares rose 63 cents to $45 Friday. 
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