The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Rockwell Collins and United Technologies Corp. are working on a deal under which United would buy Rockwell for more than $20 billion.
Rockwell Collins has a total of 1,350 employees in Decorah, Coralville, Bellevue and Manchester. Around 8,000 more employees work at the company's headquarters in Cedar Rapids and a total of 30,000 work worldwide for the company.
Analysts say it's not likely there would be layoffs if the deal goes through because there is little product overlap between the two companies.
Earlier, Reuters and Bloomberg News had reported the two companies had begun negotiating a deal. A spokeswoman for Rockwell Collins declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal's report.