GEC Plans to Buy Reltec

Britain’s General Electric Co. said it will acquire Reltec Corp., a Cleveland-based telecommunications equipment maker, for $1.7 billion, or $29.50 a share, in a move to gain access to the U.S. market. The acquisition of closely held Reltec is part of an effort to “urgently redraw” GEC after it agreed last month to sell its core defense operations to British Aerospace, Chief Executive George Simpson said. The combined company would be one of the world’s largest makers of broad-band communications systems. GEC, which is not related to Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co., said it also will assume $361 million in debt in the deal. Leveraged buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has agreed to tender its 81.5% stake in Reltec.