Latest GE sale extinguishes lightbulb business

General Electric is getting out of the light bulb business, shedding a foundational enterprise from the days of Thomas Edison, the company announced Wednesday.

The 128-year-old company, in belt-tightening mode following a hit from the coronavirus, will divest GE Lighting to smart home company Savant Systems.

The GE logo will still appear on light bulbs sold by Savant under a licensing agreement included in the transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal further removes GE from consumer business as it focuses on health care, aviation, power and other industrial goods. GE announced earlier this month it would cut 10,000 aviation jobs following the steep downturn in that business.

In 2016, GE sold its century-old appliances business to China's Haier under a transaction that also allowed the buyer to use the GE logo.

"Today's transaction is another important step in the transformation of GE into a more focused industrial company," said GE Chief Executive Lawrence Culp.

"Together with Savant, GE Lighting will continue its legacy of innovation, while we at GE will continue to advance the infrastructure technologies that are core to our company and draw on the roots of our founder, Thomas Edison."

Though other scientists had demonstrated that electric light was possible, GE, following tests of filaments, was the first to produce a bulb that could last for hours on end, enabling commercial development.