United Technologies Corp has reached a $16.5 billion cash deal to acquire aircraft components maker Goodrich Corp, in the diversified US manufacturer's biggest deal in a decade. 

United Tech said on Wednesday it would pay $127.50 a share for Goodrich, a 47 percent premium over the stock's closing price last Thursday. 

The deal, if completed, would be the US manufacturer's largest takeover in a decade. It also includes $1.9 billion in assumed debt. 

It would boost United Tech's presence in the commercial aviation business, as Goodrich supplies a host of parts to both European aerospace conglomerate Eads's Airbus division and to Boeing.
  
It also supplies parts for Hartford, Connecticut-based United Tech's Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Hamilton Sundstrand's aircraft electronics.
   
It would be a big move for United Tech chief executive Louis Chenevert, who had long said he was interested in doing more deals but was having a hard time coming to terms with targets on price. – Reuters