GE Eyes Units of Northrop, Lockheed

General Electric Co.’s British subsidiary has made an informal offer to buy defense-electronics businesses worth more than $4 billion from Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., the Sunday Times reported.

The U.S. government has indicated to Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed and Los Angeles-based Northrop that it wants the businesses sold in exchange for approving a proposed merger between the two companies, the paper added.

The Pentagon and the Justice Department contend that Lockheed’s proposed acquisition of Northrop would damage competition in a crucial segment of the defense-electronics market.

The businesses at issue include the former Westinghouse radar and missile countermeasures firm, with which GE held talks in the early 1990s before it was acquired by Northrop, and other Northrop and Lockheed subsidiaries, the paper said.