United Technologies (UTC) is nearing a deal to buy aviation systems and cabin equipment maker Rockwell Collins for close to US$20 billion, including debt, as consolidation among the world’s biggest aircraft suppliers gathers pace.
The Wall Street Journal said that the precise terms of a takeover had not yet been cemented, but that the two sides were locked in intensive negotiations with a view towards finalising a deal as early as this weekend.
A takeover of Rockwell would make UTC, a US$93 billion group known for making Carrier air conditioning units, Otis elevators and Pratt & Whitney jet engines, an even more critical supplier of components to aircraft companies such as Boeing and Airbus. It could also give UTC the option of separating its aerospace and aviation business from the rest of the company.
United Technologies already owns Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines but sold the Sikorsky helicopters to Lockheed-Martin in 2015.
Rockwell Collins, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, manufactures electronic equipment for cockpits and cabins. Last year it acquired American group B/E Aerospace for US$6.4 billion.
Full Content: Channel News Asia & Wall Street Journal
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