Munich, Germany —Siemens recently agreed to sell its Electromechanical Components Group (EC) to Tyco International Ltd. (Hamilton, Bermuda) for about DM 2 billion, pending approval by antitrust authorities. This sale is part of Siemens' Ten-Point program to achieve sustainable profitability improvement by withdrawing from the components field. Its three groups in this sector included: Siemens Microelectronics, which became Infineon Technologies AG; Passive Components, which became Epcos; and EC. A leading component and relay supplier with 12,400 employees worldwide, EC became a separate company, Siemens Electromechanical Components GmbH & Co. KG, in April 1999. EC had sales of DM 1.5 billion and pre-tax earnings of DM 45 million in fiscal 1998. In another Ten-Point move, Siemens completed the scheduled sale of its copper and special cable business on Oct. 1 to Leoni AG (Nuremburg, Germany) and Belden Inc. (Richmond, Ind.).