Raytheon International CEO Rejects Trump Concerns About UTX Merger

President Donald Trump does not have to worry about an agreement covering all of the actions between United Technologies and Raytheon, according to Raytheon International's managing director.

Earlier this month, United Technologies and Raytheon announced the signing of a merger agreement between a burgeoning aerospace company and a defense giant.

The agreement has raised questions from many lawmakers and regulators about the economic benefits and costs of large mergers. In an exclusive interview last week, Trump told CNBC that he was "not worried" because the proposed deal could hurt competition and make it harder to negotiate defense contracts for the government. American.

Asked about Trump's concerns, Raytheon International chief executive John Harris said, "In fact, it's just the opposite."

"The combination has little or no overlap, less than 1% of what we would offer as a merged company," Harris told CNBC's Phil LeBeau at the Paris Air Show Monday.

United Technologies President and CEO Greg Hayes has also dismissed Trump's concerns about a possible reduction in competition, saying that there is very little overlap that would generally raise regulators' anxiety. antitrust.

"I've been in this business for over 35 years, I do not remember when we competed with UTX (United Technologies)," said Raytheon International's Harris.

"We are very excited to be able to leverage the combined capabilities of our two companies, that it 's an important legacy of innovation, a great emphasis on program excellence and cost-saving. And, more importantly, nowadays, speed. "

The new company, named Raytheon Technologies, would become the second largest aerospace and defense company in the United States after Boeing, with an estimated turnover of $ 74 billion.

If completed, shareholders of United Technologies, based in Farmington, Connecticut, would own 57% of the new company, compared to 43% for Raytheon, after dilution.

The transaction, which the two companies have termed "equal merger", is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2020.

Harris said that he did not see in contracts between Raytheon and United Technologies an indication of an increased number of merger deals in the aerospace sector.

Asked about the partnership between Raytheon and United Technologies, Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said, "The competitive landscape is very important to us, we will monitor this transaction and evaluate what it means to us."

"But, what I am going to tell you from all of these consolidation and other industry activities (that is), we are seeing growth for Lockheed Martin," said Hewson.