GE to Seek Buyers For Appliances Unit
General Electric Co. plans to start an auction for its appliances business, people familiar with the matter said.
If completed, a sale could end more than 100 years of GE's involvement with appliances. GE has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to run an auction for the appliances, or 'white goods,' unit, which could fetch between $5 billion and $8 billion, the people said.
With appliance sales getting hit by the slowing U.S. economy and the housing bust, jettisoning the business could help GE reach its long-term goal of boosting profits by at least 10% annually.
The sale of the appliance business is bound to be emotional for many GE executives and for people in Louisville, Ky., where the business is located. But a sale would fit with Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt's strategy of shedding slower-growing industrial businesses and focusing on higher-growth technology operations. A sale could also help appease critics who are calling for a more dramatic restructuring of the 120-year-old company, a chorus that grew noisier after GE's surprise first-quarter earnings disappointment and forecast reduction last month.
At roughly $7 billion, sales at GE's appliance division represent just a sliver of the company's $173 billion of annual revenue and therefore the impact of any sale on the company will be limited. The appliance outfit consists of refrigerators, freezers, electric and gas ranges, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, microwave ovens and air conditioners, sold under brands including GE Profile and Hotpoint, according to the company's Web site. GE entered the business in 1907 and boasts of milestones such as introducing the first room air-conditioner in 1930.
If completed, a sale could end more than 100 years of GE's involvement with appliances. GE has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to run an auction for the appliances, or 'white goods,' unit, which could fetch between $5 billion and $8 billion, the people said.
With appliance sales getting hit by the slowing U.S. economy and the housing bust, jettisoning the business could help GE reach its long-term goal of boosting profits by at least 10% annually.
The sale of the appliance business is bound to be emotional for many GE executives and for people in Louisville, Ky., where the business is located. But a sale would fit with Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt's strategy of shedding slower-growing industrial businesses and focusing on higher-growth technology operations. A sale could also help appease critics who are calling for a more dramatic restructuring of the 120-year-old company, a chorus that grew noisier after GE's surprise first-quarter earnings disappointment and forecast reduction last month.
At roughly $7 billion, sales at GE's appliance division represent just a sliver of the company's $173 billion of annual revenue and therefore the impact of any sale on the company will be limited. The appliance outfit consists of refrigerators, freezers, electric and gas ranges, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, microwave ovens and air conditioners, sold under brands including GE Profile and Hotpoint, according to the company's Web site. GE entered the business in 1907 and boasts of milestones such as introducing the first room air-conditioner in 1930.
通用電氣欲出售電器業務
據
消息人士透露﹐通用電氣公司(General Electric Co.)計劃開始拍賣旗下的電器業務。如果交易完成﹐通用電氣將告別有著100多年曆史的電器業務。消息人士表示﹐通用電氣已經聘請高盛(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)負責此次“白色家電”業務的拍賣﹐交易總金額可能在50億至80億美元之間。
在美國經濟放緩以及住房市場危機的雙重打壓下﹐家電銷售行情受到負面影響﹐此時選擇剝離家電業務將有助於通用電氣實現其利潤每年至少增長10%的長期目標。
對 通用電氣的許多管理人員以及該業務所在地肯塔基州路易斯維爾的人們來說﹐出售電器業務無疑會十分傷感。但這樣才能符合首席執行長傑夫•伊梅爾特 (Jeffrey Immelt)的戰略﹕放棄增長緩慢的工業業務﹐將重點放在增長更快的技術業務上。出售這部分業務也能安撫那些要求這間有著120年曆史的公司進行更大規 模重組的批評人士。通用電氣上個月發佈的第一季度收益報告令人失望﹐同時還下調了預期收益﹐更是助長了要求重組的呼聲。
通用電氣電器業務的銷售額約為70億美元﹐在該公司1,730億美元的全年收入中有如九牛一毛﹐因此出售這部分業務對公司的影響有限。據通用電氣網站上的 信息﹐其生產的電器包括冰箱、冷柜、電爐及燃氣灶、洗碗機、洗衣機和烘干機、微波爐、空調等﹐冠以GE Profile和Hotpoint等品牌。通用電氣於1907年開始涉足這項業務﹐並取得了一些突破性成果﹐如1930年推出了第一台室內空調機。
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