NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 14, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that shareholder-friendly announcements made by Tyco International Ltd. (BBB/Stable/--) on Sept. 13, 2007, would not affect the ratings or outlook on the company. Tyco announced that its board of directors had approved a 36% increase in the company's dividend (to approximately $300 million annually) as well as a $1 billion share repurchase program. Tyco's financial profile, including the company's financial leverage levels, balance-sheet cash, and expected free cash flow generation, should be sufficiently strong to absorb both the higher dividend and the share repurchases without a material strain on the company's credit quality. In addition, Tyco's legacy liabilities are substantially lower after the recent agreement to
