One of the units for sale at Europe's largest defense contractor makes aircraft-engine controls for General Electric Co, the Journal said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The other units include a commercial avionics business and a division that makes hybrid propulsion systems for buses and trucks, the newspaper said.
Those units are grouped together under 'platform solutions,' a business that sells various control systems used in commercial and military aircraft and ground vehicles, the Journal said.
The units collectively have about $200 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, the Journal said, citing sources who said BAE could seek between $1.6 billion and $2 billion.
BAE officials declined to comment.
BAE's financial advisers, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co, have sought initial offers for the assets by next week, the paper said, citing the sources.
Potential buyers may include rival aerospace and industrial component manufacturers, such as Rockwell Collins Inc, Woodward Governor Co or Moog Inc, and private-equity firms, such as Warburg Pincus, Carlyle Group and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, the Journal said.
Initial bids are due for the entire business unit, but BAE may decide to sell the pieces separately if there are no takers for the entirety, the Journal said.
BAE Systems had $36.2 billion in sales last year, making it the world's second-largest defense company by revenue.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman and Rhys Jones; Editing by Paul Simao) Keywords: BAE/ (benjamin.klayman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 967 1900; Reuters Messaging: ben.klayman.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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