The contentious battle for control of AMP, Inc., came to a sudden close last month when Tyco International Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, rescued the world's largest maker of electrical and electronic connectors from a hostile takeover by AlliedSignal. Tyco agreed to add Harrisburg, Pa.-based AMP to its diverse and rapidly expanding portfolio of industrial companies.

Tyco surpassed AlliedSignal's $44.50-per-share bid with an agreement to pay between $51 and $56 per share for AMP common stock in a deal valued at $11.3 billion. The boards of directors for both Tyco and AMP have approved the merger. AlliedSignal made no attempt to get into a bidding war with Tyco over AMP, saying Tyco's bid "clearly exceeds the value we place on AMP," says Larry Bossidy, chairman of AlliedSignal.

AMP is the largest acquisition to date by a company that is known for being acquisitive, an indication of the value Tyco places on the world's market-share leader in connectors, says Brad McGee, senior vice president of Tyco International. The combined companies will have total annual revenues of more than $22 billion.

AMP will become part of Tyco's Electrical and Electronic Components division, which also includes Allied Tube & Conduit, maker of steel conduit and tubing; as well as Simplex Technologies and Rochester Corp., makers of fiber-optic telecommunications cable and high-voltage undersea power cable. Tyco also owns Keystone International, a maker of fluid-control and process-automation equipment, and T.J. Cope, a maker of cable tray.

AMP will serve as a large platform for further acquisitions in the electrical and electronic components businesses, says McGee. "We are definitely a consolidator in all the industries we're in," he says. "AMP still has less than a 20% share, so we look at (the acquisition of AMP) as providing an opportunity to do additional consolidation within the industry."

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