Adt Ltd

Shareholders of Tyco International Ltd. voted overwhelmingly Thursday to keep the company based in Bermuda and to keep the outside auditor, defying calls for a shake-up at the conglomerate. About 74% of investors who voted rejected the plan, Tyco spokesman Gary Holmes said at the company's annual meeting in Bermuda. Stockholders also reappointed PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditor under L. Dennis Kozlowski. Kozlowski was ousted last year as chairman and charged with looting the company.

Burglar-alarm company ADT Ltd., faced with a persistent hostile bidder, has agreed to be acquired by friendly suitor Tyco International Ltd. for $5.6 billion. The deal, announced Monday, leaves the next step to Western Resources Inc., the big Midwestern utility that has been trying to take over ADT since December. In response to the merger announcement, Western would say only that it is studying the proposal.

Tyco International Ltd., a top manufacturer of fire alarms, undersea fiber optic cables and other items, said Wednesday that it will buy electronic components maker Raychem Corp. in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.87 billion. The deal would solidify Tyco's position as the world's No. 1 supplier of electrical and electronic connectors, a position it took recently with the $12.22-billion acquisition of AMP Inc.

Tyco International Ltd. on Wednesday said that it agreed to buy industrial valve maker Keystone International Inc. for $1.2 billion in stock in a plan to boost sales and profit with acquisitions. The latest purchase by Exeter, N.H.-based Tyco, a maker of industrial and medical products, marks the sixth acquisition announced this year. Tyco has agreed to pay more than $8 billion in stock and cash for its 1997 purchases, an amount equal to about 75% of Tyco's market value of $10.5 billion.

Republic Industries Inc.'s proposed $4.3-billion acquisition of ADT Ltd. was called off Monday, in a setback for empire builder Wayne Huizenga, the chairman of Republic. ADT is the nation's largest burglar alarm company and second in the growing field of used-car auctions, two businesses targeted by Huizenga before the stock-swap deal was announced three months ago. But doubts about the viability of the merger arose after Western Resources, a Topeka, Kan.

Western Resources Inc. on Wednesday agreed to acquire an 80.1% stake in Culver City-based Protection One Inc. for $320 million in cash and assumed debt, creating the No. 2 U.S. provider of security for homes and businesses. Western Resources' security business is the nation's third-largest, with 440,000 customers in 48 states. Protection One ranks seventh. Its combined security operations will have 670,000 customers and $1 billion in sales. The Topeka, Kan.

Culver City-based Protection One Inc. has quietly become the second-largest burglar alarm company in the U.S. in the last year, as a strategy of growth by acquisition has made it a dominant force in the fragmented security industry. Largely through purchases funded by secondary stock sales and other financings, including last month's sale of $350 million in high-yield "junk" bonds, Protection One has grown from a regional alarm company to one that serves more than 1.

Republic Industries, a conglomerate controlled by billionaire entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga, announced Thursday that it is buying Alamo Rent A Car in a $625-million deal that would secure a supply of late-model used cars for its growing chain of auto superstores. The move by the diversified Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company is part a broader effort to build a nationwide transportation service giant with operations in new and used cars, rental cars, parts and service, and auto financing.