Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2017.Billionaire investor William Ackman’s activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP is opposing United Technologies Corp’s planned $120-billion aerospace merger with defence contractor Raytheon Co, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
“We are extremely concerned that such a transaction will significantly lower the business quality of pro-forma United Technologies’ aerospace business, and, to make matters worse, will be accomplished through the highly dilutive issuance of large amounts of United Technologies stock,” Ackman’s e-mail, seen by Reuters, said.
The merger would reshape the competitive landscape by forming a conglomerate which spans commercial aviation and defence procurement. United Technologies provides primarily commercial plane makers with electronics, communications and other equipment, whereas Raytheon mainly supplies the U.S. government with military aircraft and missile equipment.United Technologies and Raytheon shares have dropped 7 per cent and 4.
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