Dubai, September 25, 2002 ---- General Electric has announced the merge of its GE Appliances and GE Lighting businesses to form GE Consumer Products. The new scheme, which combines the two operations globally, is effective immediately and will be mutually beneficial for both businesses.
"GE has a rich heritage of providing customers with essential, inventive home products," said Jeff Immelt, GE Chairman and CEO. "Appliances and Lighting have powerful connections with similar consumer bases, and we believe they will now be able to grow more successfully together than either would on its own."
Continued Immelt, "This reorganization will enable Lighting and Appliances to provide more cost-effective and pointed approaches to supporting all of our customers' needs. We want to create a simpler, more efficient business that will be competitive across all product lines. By taking out administrative costs, we will be able to put that money back into investing in new technologies and building greater brand awareness."
The strategic move is part of a significant consolidation taking place in the retail industry and is aimed at creating a more focused team to better serve major retail customers.
According to Nabil Habayeb, National Executive, General Electric, Gulf, "With the merging of the two businesses, GE will create enhanced capabilities to better serve all of our customers on the retail side, as well as our commercial, industrial and home builder customers."
GE Consumer Products, with annual revenues of more than $8 billion, will be headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, while maintaining a substantial business presence in Cleveland, Ohio. James P. Campbell, President and CEO of GE Appliances since April 2001, has been named the President and CEO of GE Consumer Products. Jack Fish, currently Vice President of Global Manufacturing for GE Lighting, will become Chief Operating Officer of Lighting and Area Executive in Cleveland for GE Consumer Products, reporting to Campbell.
"The Lighting and Appliances teams are to be commended for their outstanding efforts in navigating very competitive global industries," said Immelt. "Our goal now is to combine the rich talents of these two businesses into a unified effort that will extend our leadership position and profitability."
GE has been active in the Gulf since 1933. Its activities in the region are conducted through direct presence, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and a wide network of distributors. GE has completed strategic projects in various hi-tech industrial sectors, defence-related contracts and major infrastructure developments.
GE is a diversified technology, manufacturing and services company based on more than a century of achievement and innovation. Today, it is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index that was also included in the original listing of 1896. GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 300,000 people worldwide.
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