President Trump Says United Technologies-Raytheon Merger To Hurt Competition

(RTTNews) - President Donald Trump has voiced his concerns about the blockbuster merger deal between United Technologies and Raytheon.

Aerospace company United Technologies Corp. (UTX) and defense contractor Raytheon Co. (RTN) Monday announced deal to merge in an all-stock transaction. The combined entity, to be named Raytheon Technologies Corp., is expected to have about $74 billion in pro forma 2019 sales.

However, in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box, Trump said the merger would create an aerospace and defense giant that would kill competition.

"I'm a little concerned about United Technologies and Raytheon, because one of the things that I bring up all the time is we used to have many plane companies, but they have all merged. Now we have very few, we have the two main ones-- Lockheed and Boeing. " Trump said during the phone interview.

He said he understood that there is some overlap between the companies' products.

"I just want to see competition. They're two great companies, I love them both. But I want to see that we don't hurt our competition," Trump said.

However, Gregory Hayes and Thomas Kennedy, CEOs of United Technologies and Raytheon respectively, said in a CNBC interview that there is no product overlap as well as there is nothing anti-competitive about the merger.

"We are complementary, not competitive," Kennedy told CNBC. "I don't know the last time we competed against United Technologies."

Meanwhile, the merger excludes United Technologies' escalator unit Otis and air-conditioner unit Carrier, which are already on schedule for separation in the first half of 2020.

Hayes said, "The combination of United Technologies and Raytheon will define the future of aerospace and defense... Merging our portfolios will also deliver cost and revenue synergies.."

According to the Wall Street Journal, the combined company after the planned spinoffs will be valued at more than $100 billion, only to be behind Boeing Co. as the world's second-largest aerospace-and-defense company by sales.