300-lawyer A&O team completes Tyco split

Allen & Overy (A&O), McDermott Will & Emery and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher have completed the three-way $65bn (£32.4bn) split of Tyco International, the biggest spin-off in the world so far this year.

A&O scored the role as Tyco’s international counsel on the spin-off, with McDermott acting as lead US counsel and Gibson Dunn nabbing a role on securities filings. The firms were instructed after a five-firm beauty parade saw Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom knocked off the roster of advisers. Skadden had been preparing the restructuring of the company (The Lawyer, 3 April 2006).

Tyco International, its medical business Covidien and Tyco Electronics are now three separate, publicly traded companies. Tyco International, the former parent company, now consists purely of the company’s fire and security and engineered products division.

A&O, whose relationship with Tyco dates back to the company’s 1997 acquisition of A&O’s client ADT, put out a 300-lawyer team on the spin-off. The deal required phased transfers of more than 2,000 legal entities across 88 jurisdictitons.

Corporate partners Mark Wippell and Gillian Holgate led the team out of London while corporate partner Dan Cunningham co-ordinated the New York team.

At McDermott, the Washington DC corporate head Karen Dewis led the team.