CLEVELAND — The auto parts maker and defense contractor TRW Inc. faces a Wednesday deadline to respond to Northrop Grumman Corp.'s unsolicited $5.9 billion takeover bid.
The bid announced Friday capped a tumultuous week for the Cleveland-based company, whose chairman quit three days earlier to lead Honeywell International Inc. Chairman and chief executive David M. Cote, 49, had been TRW's CEO for just more than a year.
The company's announcement that it would take four to six months to find a successor sent TRW stock plunging nearly 14 percent in two days.
Northrop Grumman is bidding for TRW with an eye toward landing TRW's high-tech and information-technology divisions and selling or spinning off its automotive business.
TRW shares soared more than 26 percent Friday in response to the unsolicited bid, closing above the offering price on speculation that other bidders could emerge, or that Northrop might raise its bid.
Northrop asked TRW to respond to its offer by Wednesday, but a quick resolution appears unlikely, analysts said. TRW could explore other options, including looking for a higher offer.
TRW also could sell its aerospace and defense businesses and pay down its $5.5 billion debt, said Alan Friedman, a fund manager at National City Investment Management Co. in Cleveland. That would allow the company to go forward as a well-capitalized auto parts maker, he said.
Another possibility is attracting other bidders, such as General Dynamics Corp., which lost out to Northrop in a November bidding war over the Newport News Shipping nuclear carrier shipyard, Friedman said.