Anna Forrester
United Technologies Corp. has confirmed that it is currently in negotiations with multiple bidders for the acquisition of UTC subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft, Defense News reported Saturday.
Andrew Clevenger writes that sources have named the bidders as Airbus, Blackstone, Lockheed Martin and Textron.
The report said the news comes after UTC announced its plan to either sell or spin off the $8 billion helicopter business following CEO Gregory Hayes‘Â statement in March regarding the board’s strategic review of the options for Sikorsky.
Ray Jaworowski, senior aerospace analyst for Forecast International, told Defense News he believes Sikorsky’s portfolio is a “good fit” for the identified bidders.
Winning the bid could give the company a boost in the competition for the Defense Department‘s Future Vertical Lift program, Clevenger writes.
He notes that the potential deal will also add to the series of merger and acquisition activity in the defense sector for the past few months, including the Orbital-ATK and Harris-Exelis mergers.
“It was only 18 to 24 months ago there was a great deal of budget uncertainty. There still is some, but I think people are beginning to feel the bottom,” said Pierre Chao, managing partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors.
“That’s allowing people to undertake strategic reviews and assessments and decide what do they consider to be core and non-core.”
