Mallinckrodt begins life as independent company

DUBLIN — Covidien has finished spinning off its pharmaceuticals division, the medical products maker said.

St. Louis-based Covidien announced that it had separated Mallinckrodt as an independent company that has started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MNK," a move that it announced in December 2011. Shares in the newly public company were trading at $43.52 at noon Tuesday, down by 48 cents from the start of the day.

"Covidien is well-positioned to deliver on its strategic initiatives, including broadening innovation focus, aggressively managing its portfolio, capitalizing on emerging market opportunities and optimizing spending to provide for investments in innovation and growth," Covidien chairman, president and CEO Jose Almeida said. "We are maintaining our long-term financial goals and continue to target top-line growth at or above the markets in which we compete."

Covidien said the spinoff would allow the respective businesses to pursue their own strategic and operational plans and that both had distinctly different business models, sales channels, customers and capital requirements, with substantial differences in pipelines, regulatory requirements and other factors.