United Technologies Strikes Deal to Merge With Raytheon

By WSJ City 

United Technologies doubled down on the aerospace market with an all-stock deal to merge with defense contractor Raytheon after UTC executives earlier chose to exit the escalator and air-conditioner businesses.

The combined company, valued at more than $100bn after planned spinoffs, would be the world's second-largest aerospace-and-defense company by sales behind Boeing, with annual revenue of about $74bn this year.

KEY FACTS

--- The proposed deal intensifies the consolidation in the aerospace and defence industry as plane makers seek better terms from suppliers.

--- The Pentagon is also putting more pressure on contractors to cut costs and invest more in new technologies.

--- The new company will be named Raytheon Technologies, and executives on Sunday called the deal a merger of equals.

--- Executives said the merger would allow them to boost research spending and squeeze out some $1bn in annual costs from the marriage.

Why This Matters

The combined entity would be split about 50/50 between commercial and defence sales, though military is likely to shrink as a proportion as UTC's Pratt & Whitney division ramps up deliveries of its latest jetliner engines. One-third of the two companies' aerospace and defense revenue last year -- some $25bn -- came from the Pentagon.

"There is some truth to the idea that bigger is better," Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu wrote in a note to clients on Sunday. "With common customers there is some leverage to size and the supply chain."

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2019 04:28 ET (08:28 GMT)

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