AT least two Chinese companies are preparing bids for industrial conglomerate General Electric’s remaining lighting assets in a potentially US$1 billion deal, according to sources familiar with the situation. MLS Co. and Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co., both lighting manufacturers based in Guangdong Province, have been in talks with lenders to finance a potential bid for the asset, one of the sources said. GE on Monday sent out teasers to interested parties about the sale process, to be followed by information memos in a couple of weeks and a first round of bidding thereafter, another source said. In mid-February, GE reached a deal to sell the European parts of its overseas lighting business to a company controlled by former executive Joerg Bauer for an undisclosed amount. That marked the first step in the divesture of the lighting business. Shedding the remaining mainly U.S.-based lighting business is part of a broad restructuring plan aimed at divesting US$20 billion worth of assets to focus the remaining company on three core divisions: power, aviation and health care. Among other options, GE is exploring a sale of its industrial gas engine business that could be worth as much as US$2 billion, people close to the matter said last month. (SD-Agencies) |