By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. aerospace and industrial company United Technologies Corp is set to win EU antitrust approval for the largest aerospace deal in history - a $23 billion bid for avionics maker Rockwell Collins, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The deal, announced in September last year, would create a new player in the top echelon of suppliers to Boeing, Airbus, Bombadier and other plane makers.
The takeover would give UTC, maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines, more leverage to resist pressure from plane makers seeking price cuts at the same time as they compete on high-margin services and spare parts.
UTC has offered to sell assets to address the European Commission's concerns, the people said, declining to provide details.
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The EU competition enforcer, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by May 4, declined to comment. UTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rockwell Collins' businesses are in avionics, seats and plane interiors. This is the second engines-to-seating supplier deal after French jet engine maker Safran acquired seat maker Zodiac Aerospace last year.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Elaine Hardcastle)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
