NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Tyco International Ltd. named David FitzPatrick chief financial officer Wednesday as the company took another step to install new leadership and distance itself from a difficult past.
FitzPatrick, who has held jobs at numerous blue-chip firms, replaces Mark Swartz, who resigned from Tyco last month.
The hiring of FitzPatrick comes six weeks after Tyco named a former Motorola executive, Edward Breen, as chief executive officer to replace a CEO who resigned just days before his indictment.
Investors appeared to like the latest change at Tyco, a conglomerate whose many products include fire-detection systems, circuit boards, disposable medical supplies and undersea cables.
Shares of Tyco (TYC: Research, Estimates) rallied 10 percent Wednesday afternoon, jumping to their highest levels in more than three months.
The new leadership at Tyco will have no ties to an era when Tyco during the 1999s went on a $60 billion acquisition spree. Applauded at the time, that acquisition spree has led to questions about whether the company's complicated accounting overstated profits.
Former CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who faces tax evasion charges in New York, had close ties to Swartz, FitzPatirck's predecessor.
FitzPatrick, 48, formerly served as the CFO of United Technologies and held top finance positions at Eastman Kodak and General Motors.
"Tyco is getting a highly respected CFO in FitzPatrick," John Boland, an analyst and fund manager at NL Capital Management, which holds shares in Tyco and United Tech, told Reuters. "This is a tremendous coup for Tyco."
While Tyco shares have fallen 70 percent this year, the company has never had to restate results. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Tyco, but has released no findings.
United Technologies said FitzPatrick will be replaced by Steve Page, 62, who served as the company's CFO from 1993 to 1997.
"The reputation of Mr. FitzPatrick along with that of United Technologies is the kind of reputation that Tyco is seeking," Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research Inc., told Reuters.
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