Cedar Rapids aerospace company going through another ownership change

CEDAR RAPIDS — The largest employer in Cedar Rapids is again changing owners.

Rockwell-Collins was sold back in November to Connecticut-based United Technologies in a $23 billion deal, and the avionics maker was renamed Collins Aerospace. Now, that parent company United Technologies is announcing plans to merge with another major aerospace and defense contractor — Raytheon.

The new company, which should be finalized in the deal by mid-2020, is to be called Raytheon Technologies Corporation. With combined annual sales around $74 billion, it would be the nation’s number-two company in the industry, after only Boeing.