Thursday, May 15, 2008 - Page updated at 03:00 AM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Report: GE set to auction appliance business
General Electric Co. plans to auction off its Louisville, Ky.-based appliances business, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
GE has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to run an auction for the appliance division, according to the newspaper, which quoted unidentified sources. The sale could yield between $5 billion and $8 billion, the Journal reported.
Spokesmen for the Fairfield-based industrial conglomerate and Goldman Sachs would not comment.
Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a statement that he had contact with GE leaders within the past 10 days "based on my concerns about additional job cutbacks at their Louisville operations," where some 5,000 people are employed. "Officials told me they were looking at possible reductions throughout their global operations, including Louisville, but they did not indicate that selling Appliance Park was part of their plans."
"We will certainly make the case to GE or to any potential buyer that Louisville is the best place to continue operations and headquarters," Abramson said.
GE last year took in $11.6 billion in its sale of its plastics division. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has been under pressure to restructure the industrial and financial conglomerate, particularly since last month's surprising first-quarter earnings report that profit fell 6 percent.
However, Immelt brushed off questions about GE spinning off businesses. He said shortly after the earnings report that GE has already sold businesses valued at between $50 billion and $60 billion in what he called the "most active portfolio change in the history of the company."
He also has rejected calls for GE to divest itself of its NBC Universal property.
GE entered the appliance business in 1907. Revenue for GE's Louisville-based industrial business, which includes appliance manufacturing, was nearly $17.73 billion in 2007, down slightly from $17.74 billion in 2006.
Total revenue for GE last year was $172.7 billion.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
An 802.11n upgrade could make a big difference
Retailers opening doors on Thanksgiving Day
Google makes concessions on digital book deal
Critics want to block Comcast-NBC deal
Google submits revised book settlement

nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Seattle U. Men's Hoops | Big recruit goes from Huskies to Redhawks
- Mariners sign Jack Wilson to 2-year contract
- Razor found in muffin an accident, 'mortified' baker says
- Suspect's family shaken by slaying of police officer
- Mountlake Terrace woman reports razor in muffin
- Man says he will protest city's gun ban by carrying gun into community center
- Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
- Homeless man, 46, arrested in Greenwood arsons
- Ivar's undersea billboards a hoax devised as marketing ploy
- Light rail to airport to begin Dec. 19
- Steve Kelley | ESPN's Bill Simmons gets us: He hates Clay Bennett, too
- An 802.11n upgrade could make a big difference
- KVI talk radio host off the air as of Thursday
- Washington in race for federal education funds
- Police investigate videotaped arrest
- Goodwill's Glitter Sale is Nov. 14-15




