General Electric To Sell Plastics Unit for $11.6B
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
General Electric Co. is selling its plastics business to Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial company, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. for $11.6 billion. The plastics unit, which has been suffering from declining profit and revenue, was expected to fetch $8 billion to $10 billion when GE began shopping it early this year. Shares of the Connecticut conglomerate were up 25 cents, or 0.7%, at $37.21 in recent trading. “This sale is the right move at the right time for GE shareowners,”the chairman and chief executive, Jeff Immelt, said. Mr. Immelt said GE will use the estimated $9 billion in after-tax proceeds from the sale mainly to relaunch its stock-buyback effort and to increase this year’s planned purchase to up to $8 billion. GE will record an approximate gain of $1.5 billion, which will cover restructuring costs and the buyback.
