NEW YORK/BOSTON, May 15 (Reuters) – Private equity firms TPG
Capital and Carlyle Group (CG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) are separately considering bids
for United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) industrial units that
make pumps and compressors valued at $3.5 billion to $4 billion,
according to people familiar with the matter.

The sale is one of three that the diversified U.S.
manufacturer is trying to close to raise cash and avoid issuing
new common shares to fund its largest-ever acquisition, the
$16.5 billion purchase of Goodrich Corp (GR.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Private equity firms TPG Capital and Carlyle Group (CG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are separately considering bids for United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) industrial units that make pumps and compressors valued at $3.5 billion to $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The sale is one of three that the diversified U.S. manufacturer is trying to close to raise cash and avoid issuing new common shares to fund its largest-ever acquisition, the $16.5 billion purchase of Goodrich Corp (GR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

WATERBURY, Vermont (Reuters) – The founder of embattled Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc said he felt the company treated him unfairly by ousting him as chairman after a share sale that broke company rules but defended its commitment to doing the right thing.

Robert Stiller vowed to repay the margin loans that prompted his demotion and to comply with a new company policy prohibiting directors and officers from taking out loans that use shares of the Waterbury, Vermont-based coffee roaster as collateral.

WATERBURY, Vermont (Reuters) – Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (GMCR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has concluded that no other senior officials have the sort of margin account that led the company to strip its founder, Robert Stiller, of his role as chairman on Tuesday.

“There has been a review and there is nobody else with similar margin accounts,” Suzanne DuLong, a vice president with the company, said in an interview at its Waterbury, Vermont, headquarters on Wednesday.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) could spend up to $1.5 billion on small takeovers to boost its presence in the data-analytics sector, a complement to the company’s service business, a top executive said.

The goal is to find ways to extend the time its gas turbines, jet engines and other heavy equipment can run without unscheduled maintenance — a development that would improve efficiency for its customers and save GE money as it typically sells the equipment along with maintenance contracts.

May 4 (Reuters) – Opponents of corporate political donations
plan to picket 3M Co’s shareholder meeting on Tuesday in
a bid to get the diversified U.S. manufacturer to stop making
political contributions.

About 100 protesters are expected to turn out at the meeting
in St. Paul, Minnesota, to support a shareholder proposal that
would prohibit the maker of Post-It notes and films used in
television screens from directly contributing to election
campaigns, according to organizers.

EAST HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) – United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) talks to sell its Rocketdyne space unit are now focused on one possible buyer, the head of the company’s Pratt & Whitney engine unit said.

The diversified U.S. manufacturer in March put Rocketdyne, which makes engines used in satellite launches, up for sale as part of an effort to avoid selling new common shares to fund its largest-ever acquisition, the $16.5 billion pending takeover of aerospace components maker Goodrich Corp (GR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

May 1 (Reuters) – Farm equipment maker Agco Corp
said first-quarter earnings surged 50 percent, blowing past Wall
Street forecasts, on strong demand from a booming agricultural
sector and raised its full-year profit forecast.

The maker of tractors and combine harvesters said on Tuesday
that profit came to $120.2 million, or $1.21 per share in the
quarter, compared with earnings of $80 million, or 81 cents per
share, a year earlier.

BOSTON/LONDON (Reuters) – As China’s economy cools, some big U.S. and European companies are losing what had been one of their surest growth bets.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), 3M Co (MMM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and ABB Ltd (ABBN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) are among the manufacturers that have reported weak performances in China in the first quarter, as economic growth slowed to a near three-year-low.

BOSTON/LONDON (Reuters) – As China’s economy cools, some big U.S. and European companies are losing what had been one of their surest growth bets.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), 3M Co (MMM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), United Technologies Corp (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and ABB Ltd (ABBN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are among the manufacturers that have reported weak performances in China in the first quarter, as economic growth slowed to a near three-year-low.