United Tech CEO says ready to 'turn up the heat' on acquisitions

By Lewis Krauskopf

(Reuters) - United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) is ready to "turn up the heat on M&A" now that the U.S. conglomerate has agreed to sell its Sikorsky helicopter business, Chief Executive Greg Hayes said in an interview on Tuesday.

United Tech agreed on Monday to sell Sikorsky to Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) for $9 billion after a review that began in March. Having settled Sikorsky, which had been a significant focus since March, "now it is time to go off and look at M&A,” Hayes said in an interview after the company reported second quarter results.

"The key for us now in the next six to 12 months is turn up the heat on M&A," Hayes said. "We are looking at everything from $500 million to $5 billion right now. And there’s targets out there."

Hayes said UTC has divested $15 billion worth of businesses in the past five years, including Sikorsky.

"We’re done shrinking UTC with the completion of this divestiture," Hayes said.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)