Honeywell scraps bid for United Technologies

Aircraft parts maker Honeywell has dropped its $90bn (£65.4bn) bid to buy rival United Technologies.

On Tuesday, Honeywell said it was abandoning its efforts because of United Technologies "unwillingness to engage in negotiations".

United Technologies rejected the offer last week, saying regulators were unlikely to approve the deal and the price was too low.

The deal would have created one of the aerospace industry's largest companies.

"Continuing to try to negotiate with an unwilling partner is inconsistent with our disciplined acquisition process," said Honeywell's chief executive officer, Dave Cote.

Last week, the head of United Technologies, Greg Hayes, said accepting the deal would be "irresponsible".

"It would also have a material negative impact on [United Technologies'] operations, customer relationships and talent retention," Mr Hayes said.

United Technologies is an American manufacturer, among the businesses it owns are aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney and elevator manufacture Otis.

Honeywell's businesses focuses on aerospace, automation and controls, and advanced materials. The company often looks to mergers and acquisitions to expand. On Tuesday, it completed its purchase of Movilizer - a cloud services provider for employees performing maintenance, sales and warehousing activities away from the office.

Honeywell shares rose 2.3% following the announcement while United Technologies shares fell 2.5%.