General Electric News: GE Stock Lights Up 8% on Light Bulb Business Sale

GE is reportedly pocketing $250M from the deal

General Electric (NYSE:GE) news for Wednesday concerning the sale of the company’s lighting business has GE stock taking off.

General Electric is selling its light bulb business off to Savant Systems. Savant is a company that focuses on the development of smart home systems. Financial details of the deal were not revealed in the press release.

While the General Electric news release doesn’t reveal a price, people close to the matter have. One unnamed source claims that the company is selling the GE lighting business for a total of $250 million.

We also know that Savant plans to keep the GE Lighting brand after the transaction reaches its close. Apparently, General Electric has signed a licensing agreement allowing Savant to make use of that name, The Motley Fool notes.

The deal will also have Savant bringing on all of the more than 700 GE Lighting employees when it comes to a close. The current Cleveland, Ohio headquarters for the business will remain where it is.

H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., chairman and CEO of General Electric, said this about the news.

“Today’s transaction is another important step in the transformation of GE into a more focused industrial company. Our GE Lighting colleagues will join a fast-growing leader in home automation that shares their passion for bringing the future to light. 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.”

The deal is set to close in mid-2020.

GE stock was up 7.6% as of Wednesday afternoon.