GE's insatiable appetite
General Electric, seemingly the most far flung of conglomerates, keeps buying properties in a variety of different industries. But unlike the old random conglomerates, GE's buyouts usually have a well-considered, deliberate purpose. GE is involved in many industries, but in all of them intensely, oligopolistically.
Just this week it suddenly acquired UK medical diagnostic company Amersham PLC for over $9 billion. Amersham specializes in medical scanning technologies, with investments in PET (positron emission tomography) and in the chemical tracers that are used to improve scanning for X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasound. These activities complement and extend GE's large presence in medical imaging. In addition, Amersham is involved in a major growth area, genomic therapies. Still a minor part of the business, it is generally agreed to be a big potential growth area.
GE keeps rolling up companies, trying to strengthen the wide variety of industries it participates in. These include broadcasting, insurance, medical technology, security, materials science, IT services, credit, and power generation, among others. And then there are the flagship home electrical products - GE still sells lots of light bulbs and appliances.
What is s remarkable is that GE is a worldwide leader in all of these areas, something that a less disciplined company could not maintain. Its acquisitions (and spin-offs) reflect a strategy of buying up the best innovation and integrating it into their worldwide sales organization. GE has not made many missteps, and is careful only to enter areas where it can be number one or two. GE remains a leader at buying up companies and restructuring them for maximum profit.
Here's a list of all the acquisitions they have made so far in 2003:
October
- GE's NBC division bought Vivendi's Universal film, TV, and amusement park assets in the US, a deal worth $14.
- GE bought Finnish medical-device company Instrumentarium, for over$2 billion.
- GE HCP Medical Office Portfolio buys $480 million worth of medical office buildings from MedCap Properties.
- GE Financial bought the commercial financial services of Dutch insurance company Aegon NV for over $6 billion.
September
- GE Fleet Management Services acquired Texas company CitiCapital Fleet Services from Citicorp for $1.2 billion. Both companies lease and service car and truck fleets to other companies. GE Fleet services is the largest such company in the world, now with over 1.5 million vehicles.
August
- GE Power Systems acquired M.J. Harden Associates, Inc., a US company that is a leader in geospatial data management and integration services, especially for the pipeline industry. Terms were not announced.
- GE Canada Enterprises Company acquired Canada's Triple G Systems Group, which develops medical lab information services.
- GE Commercial Finance bought most of Transamerica's commercial finance business for approximately $8 billion
July
- GE Specialty Materials bought OSi Specialties, which deals in organosilicones, used for fluids, coatings and sealants.
- GE Industrial Systems acquired Saferex Oy, a Finnish company that configures electronic security systems.
June
- GE Industrial Systems acquired substantially all of the assets of Kampro Technology, Inc., a Taiwanese company that develops high-performance image sensing technologies. The main application is in the security field.
- GE Industrial Systems acquired Monitoring Automation Systems, a US provider of automation software for central security monitoring.
- GE's German consumer credit services acquired Allgemeinen Privatkundenbank Aktiengesellschaft, Hanover (Allbank), which handles personal and auto loans business, for 183 million euros.
- GE Industrial Systems acquired US Mountain Systems, Inc., which provides software for manufacturing automation in a number of industries.
May
- GE Industrial Systems acquired of SI Pressure Instruments, a unit of UK Hill & Smith Holding, PLC.
- GE Power Systems bought Jenbacher AG of Austria, a manufacturer of reciprocating engines used in power generation.
April
- GE Industrial Systems acquired International Fiber Systems, Inc., a US provider of advanced, digital fiber optic transmission products and systems for electronic security and intelligent transportation systems.
March
- GE Industrial Systems bought RAMiX Inc., a US supplier of embedded computing connectivity, storage and memory solutions for industries ranging from defense and aerospace to telecommunications and medical equipment.
- GE Consumer Finance bought Conseco Finance Corp.'s sales finance unit with a bid valued at $310 million.
February
- GE Specialty Materials acquired Osmonics, Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of high-technology water purification, filtration and water handling systems.
- GE Power Systems acquired majority ownership of Kvaerner Power Equipment Co., Ltd (of Hangzhou, China, one of the leading suppliers of hydropower generation equipment in China.
- GE Consumer Finance acquired First National's secured and unsecured lending business from Britain's Abbey National PLC for a consideration of 848 million pounds.
January
- GE Medical Systems Information Technologies bought Millbrook Corporation, a US-based developer of information systems for physician offices.
- GE Medical Systems acquired Ambassador Medical, Inc., a US supplier of pre-owned ultrasound equipment.
GE has been less active in discarding businesses that don't fit its requirements. Here are the 2003 discards so far:
- GE sold off its GE Superabrasives division to Littlejohn & Co. GE Superabrasives is a supplier of manufactured diamond, cubic boron nitride, and polycrystalline products Terms were not announced.
- GE Insurance sold Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC) to a group of investors led by The PMI Group, Inc. for around $2 billion.
- GE Insurance sold its Tokyo-based GE Edison Life Insurance Company and U.S. Auto & Home business to American International Group for approximately $2 billion,
9:06:28 PM 
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