GE announced May 16 that it was reviewing strategic options for its Appliances business. The Company is currently considering three possibilities for the unit: a strategic partnership or joint venture; spin off; or the sale of the business.

“This review is consistent with the strategy we have been executing to transform our portfolio for long-term growth, “ GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said. “Since 2003 we have exited slower growth and more volatile businesses, generating $52 billion in gross proceeds from dispositions. These proceeds have been reinvested into a transformed portfolio of faster growth, higher margin businesses, stock buybacks and other restructuring activities.

“GE Appliances has a very strong brand, great distribution, a talented leadership team and for more than 100 years, has been one of the icons associated with GE in the United States,” Immelt said. “However, it remains primarily a U.S. business, meaning its fortunes are tied to the rise and fall of a single market. We want to make this good business great again by finding the right strategic solution – a solution that will give Appliances the global reach and investment required to compete more effectively,” Immelt said. “Jim Campbell and the Appliances leadership team have done a great job running the business and I am pleased that they have agreed to remain at the business,” Immelt said. “Their leadership has been critical in creating world-class products like GE Monogram®, GE Café® and a wide range of Energy Star™ certified appliances.”

GE Appliances is part of GE Industrial’s Consumer & Industrial division, which also includes the lighting and electrical distribution businesses. Those units will remain part of GE’s industrial platform. Both businesses are global and fit well with GE’s environmental initiative, ecomagination. GE Appliances is a $7.2 billion business and employs about 13,000 people worldwide. It is headquartered in Louisville, KY.

GE is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world’s toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at www.ge.com.