
Harris Corp. [HRS] on Friday said it has agreed to acquire defense and government contractor Exelis Inc. [XLS] in a $4.8 billion cash and stock deal that provides the communications and information technology company with more competitive scale and significantly expands its contracting work for the federal government.The transaction, the largest every by Harris, must still be approved by Exelis’ shareholders and federal regulators, and is expected to close in June. Once complete, Harris will have about $8.2 billion in…