For sale after all /Burden of higher materials costs/Private equity buyer seems likely

摘要

Prominent corporate executives usually leave room for interpretation when making bold statements like "I've never thought about selling our plastics business,"as Jeffrey Im-melt,CEO of General Electric (GE)is quoted as saying in a September 2006 interview. His subsequent statement during an earnings conference a month later was more ambiguous:Plastics "is a business we really need to remain focused on."In any case,the long-rumoured sale of GE Plastics (GEP,Pittsfield,Massachusetts /USA;www.geplastics.com)looks to be closer than ever. GE is seeking bids of USD 8-10 bn for the activities with annual sales of USD 7 bn,the well-connected "Wall Street Journal"said,citing unidentified sources.