GE expects to complete the sale of its Water business by mid-2017, it said in its Q4 2016 earnings call on 20 January 2017.
GE is currently selling GE Water and GE Industrial Solutions, and has pegged proceeds from the two sales at an estimated $4 billion, while estimated gains are $2.5 billion.
“We’ve seen significant interest in the platforms and discussions are progressing. We expect to close Water around mid-year, and Industrial Solutions late in the year,” the company said.
GE Water has received “a lot of bids at decent valuations”, GE senior vice president and chief financial officer Jeff Bornstein told Bloomberg.com.
Meanwhile the New York Post has put a potential asking price for GE Water at $3 billion, or one and a half times the business unit’s annual sales of $2 billion.
GE is facing “slow growth and a volatile environment” said chief executive and chairman Jeff Immelt on the earnings call. It will use gains from the disposals to fund restructuring.
GE reported Q4 2016 revenues of $33.1 billion, net earnings per share of $0.39, and continuing earnings per share of $0.39.
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