GE set to sluice away water unit

GE is looking to sell its water and process technologies business and will use the money to fund the restructure of the planned merger of its oil and gas unit with Baker Hughes.

GE said it expects to gain around US$1bn from the sale of business, which produces chemicals and equipment for water treatment, and is aiming to close any deal in the middle of 2017. The announcement was made yesterday during an investor call about its merger with Baker Hughes.

“We’ve been evaluating the fit of water in our portfolio for quite a period of time,” said CFO Jeffrey Bornstein, IHS Chemical Week reports. “It’s an industry that’s reasonably fragmented. There is a small overlap with the chemicals business inside of Baker Hughes. I think this just helped us crystallise our thinking from a capital allocation perspective in terms of what that fit was and whether we were going to be an investor in water over the long term.”

Heiner Markhoff, CEO of GE Power, Water & Distributed Power added that “driving customer efficiency, promoting global sustainability and innovating for a smart water future” has set the business for future success.

Meanwhile, its oil and gas merger is set to combine GE’s expertise in oil and gas technology, manufacturing and digital platforms with Baker Hughes’ oilfield equipment, technology and services expertise. The companies say that following the tie-up, they will be able to provide best-in-class physical and digital technology solutions for customers, covering drilling, completions, production, and midstream and downstream equipment and services.