United Technologies' Stock Drops After Honeywell Ends Merger Pursuit

Shares of United Technologies Corp. dropped 4.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Honeywell International Inc. said it was ending its pursuit of a merger with the rival industrial conglomerate, because of United Tech's "unwillingness to engage in negotiations." Honeywell's stock climbed 2.2% in premarket trade. Honeywell said it strongly disagreed with United Tech's assertion that there was a high risk that a merger of the companies would be blocked by antitrust regulators. Honeywell said it believes a merger would have created considerable value through $3.5 billion in cost synergies, and did not believe the regulatory environment would have presented any material obstacles. "However, continuing to try to negotiate with an unwilling partner is inconsistent with our disciplined acquisition process," said Honeywell Chief Executive Dave Cote.