Report: United Technologies Leads Bid for GE Security

United Technologies Corp. is the frontrunner in bidding for General Electrics' security business, reports Bloomberg, which cited "a person familiar with the matter."

GE Security went up for sale in August of 2009 and could fetch up to $2 billion, according to multiple reports. Bloomberg says GE is still talking with more than one bidder.

"It would make sense for people to include United Technologies on the short list of acquirers now," Deane Dray, a New York analyst at FBR Capital Markets told Bloomberg, adding that the company has remained "very disciplined in all the metrics of what they’re willing to pay for assets."

Both GE and United Technologies declined to comment on "marketplace speculation," Bloomberg said. In a recent call with investors, United Technologies CFO Greg Hayes said, "I feel better about the M&A pipeline than I have in a long time."

United Technologies, which has spent about $560 million on acquisitions in 2009, according to Bloomberg, was outbidded by GE in an effort to acquire Honeywell International in 2000. United Technologies built its security unit earlier this decade when it purchased the Kiddie fire and Chubb security brands.

In 2008, GE predicted the security unit would have about $3 billion in sales by 2011, which would be up from more than $1.8 billion in 2007, according to Bloomberg. In April, GE sold a majority stake in GE Security's homeland protection business, which sells technology for airports, to Paris-based Safran SA.