GE saying goodbye to light bulb business

General Electric Co. cut one of the last remaining links to founder Thomas Edison, as the beleaguered manufacturer wrapped up a threeyear process to sell its iconic light bulb business.

Automation- products company Savant Systems Inc. will acquire GE’S consumer operations, including lighting and smart- home goods, and bring on the business’s more than 700 employees, the companies said Wednesday in a statement. They didn’t disclose terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this year.

While lighting has become a minor part of GE’S operations, the sale is symbolic for a company that has shed elements of its past as it grappled with dwindling cash and slowing demand. GE in recent years sold its century-old locomotive unit and backed away from some health-care and oil businesses.

The lighting unit’s sale is an “important step in the transformation of GE into a more focused industrial company,” chief executive Larry Culp said.

GE will now effectively cease to be a consumer- facing company, focusing primarily on making jet engines and power- generation equipment. The Boston- based manufacturer sold its home- appliances operations in 2016, though the “GE Appliances” brand name remains in use. Savant also will gain a “long- term licensing agreement” to use the GE brand.

The shares climbed 7.3 per cent to US$ 7.30 in early- afternoon trading in New York. GE had dropped 39 per cent this year through Tuesday, while the S& P 500 slid 7.4 per cent

Light bulbs have been central to GE’S identity since its founding. The business traces its roots to 1879, when Edison created the first practical commercial incandescent lamp. His interests around lights and related technologies served as precursors to GE, which was formed in 1892.