NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Tyco International Lmited, the world's biggest provider of fire and security systems, may divest about 10 percent of its $20 billion portfolio after spinning off the health-care and electronics divisions.

"They're all good assets" and would be sold in the next 18 to 24 months, chief executive officer Edward Breen told investors in New York City yesterday. Tyco will begin trading as three separate companies after the split is completed at the end of June. All three CEOs spoke today.

Breen will run what's left of Tyco — the security, fire and engineered-products units. He affirmed plans to divest the infrastructure-services unit, with 2006 sales of $1.3 billion, and said one potential disposal is fire-truck manufacturing in Asia. Fire and security face greater competition than when Breen took over in 2002 as companies such as United Technologies and General Electric moved into some markets.

"It's not going to be easy money, that's for sure," said Stephen Hoedt, an equity analyst with National City in Cleveland, which owned 1.6 million Tyco shares as of March. He predicted the company would repurchase shares rather than make acquisitions. The company has a "long, hard slog" ahead of it, he said

Shares of Tyco, based in Bermuda and run from West Windsor, New Jersey, fell 49 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $33.60 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 11 percent so far this year.

Breen forecast restructuring costs of as much as $400 million through next year and said Tyco will generate savings of as much as $200 million in 2009.

"I promise you we will not waste the money when we get it in our hands," Breen told investors. Funds will be used to boost internal growth, improve operations across the company and make selective acquisitions in Tyco's important markets, he said.

The company will consider small purchases, particularly for new technology to help the flow-control and fire and security divisions, he said.

Breen and his board moved in January 2006 to break up Tyco to improve returns for investors in the conglomerate built by former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski, now serving time in a New York State prison for stealing from the company. Tyco settled in May shareholder lawsuits stemming from that era for $2.98 billion. That will be booked as an expense in the third quarter.

Stockholders as of yesterday will get one share of the health-care company, named Covidien, and one share of the electronics unit, Tyco Electronics, on June 29 for every four shares of the parent owned, Tyco said on June 7.

Tyco Electronics will target profit margins of 15 percent, up from 12 percent, chief executive Thomas Lynch said at the conference.

The company will aim to achieve internal sales growth of five percent to seven percent in three years, Lynch said. Increased copper prices have hurt the automotive unit, and revenue gains will be stymied in the quarter ending this month by sluggish housing-component sales in the US, he said.

Covidien may increase sales four percent to six percent this year including currency gains because of more efficient manufacturing and the resolution of product recalls, Chief Financial Officer Charles Dockendorff told analysts and investors.

Net income will fall during the next 12 months because of costs related to the spin-off, he said, without providing a profit forecast.

Covidien, which has cut costs by speeding up manufacturing and reducing inventory in factories, plans to seek new acquisitions and to divest some units as it becomes an independent company, CEO Richard Meelia said.

Tyco International's plan to break up may be delayed because of a lawsuit over whether the company has fulfilled its obligations to bondholders, a group of creditors said on June 14.

The company tried to "coerce" bondholders into accepting less than they were owed and failed to obtain debt holders' consent for the break-up, a committee representing the note-holders wrote in a letter to Tyco's board that was released in a statement. Creditors say they are owed about $95 million more than Tyco is willing to pay. The company said it doesn't need bondholder permission to move ahead.

Analysts including Morgan Stanley's Scott Davis estimate Tyco's full value, referred to as the sum of the parts, at about $39 a share. He rates the shares as "overweight."

Immediately following the break-up, Tyco holders will own all the shares of Covidien and Tyco Electronics, the company said. Tyco has already named executives and boards for both new companies.

The Tyco board also signed off June 7 on a one-for-four reverse share split for the parent company, which will become effective right after the spin-offs. Stockholders approved that move on March 8.