GE Soured on Deal in June, Report Says

General Electric Co. appeared to lose interest in its $47-billion purchase of Honeywell International Inc. early last month, the Financial Times said on its Web site, citing an unidentified European Commission official.

“We presume that maybe within General Electric there was not unanimous thinking on the issue,” the online report cited the EC official as saying.

The European Commission on Tuesday blocked GE’s purchase of Honeywell, citing concerns that the combined company might use its plane-leasing unit to dominate the market for jet engines and airplane electronics.

The two companies’ agreement required GE to make “reasonable best efforts” to complete the acquisition, the Financial Times said. GE’s commitment to the purchase will be crucial if Honeywell decides to sue GE over the collapse of their agreement, the report said.