Shares of Tyco Fall on Probe Speculation

Shares of Tyco International Ltd., which has made more than $55 billion in acquisitions in the last five years, fell 2.8% on speculation the company again may be the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

Tyco isn’t under investigation by the SEC, said Maryanne Kane, a company spokeswoman. The shares fell $1.65 to $57.25 on the NYSE. Tyco’s shares rose 6.1% last year.

SEC Insight, a private research firm, said it was denied a request for information on Tyco by the SEC in November. That may mean the company is being investigated, the firm said. In July 2000, Tyco said the SEC ended a probe of its accounting practices and recommended that no action be taken against the company.

SEC Insight routinely asks for federal documents on publicly traded companies, said John Gavin, president of the Plymouth, Minn.-based research firm. Questions about the timing of Tyco’s disclosure of the former SEC investigation helped raise concern about the credibility of management, he said.