GE in talks with sovereign wealth funds: Report

FRANKFURT: US industrial group General Electric (GE) is in talks with foreign sovereign wealth funds on a possible equity holding and joint operations, a senior executive said on Thursday in a press report.

Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, head of GE International, was quoted by the Financial Times Deutschland as saying that the group was speaking with the Singapore funds Temasek and GIC and with CIC and Safe of China.

GE's goal is to establish stable shareholders, since a large amount of its shares trade freely on financial markets, the newspaper said, while noting that the US group already has a strong cooperation with a state-owned fund from Abu Dhabi.

"We are discussing with them how each could contribute to investments in partner countries, in infrastructure for example," Beccalli-Falco was quoted as saying.

"If there is a partnership, the funds should take a stake in us," he added.

GE has been hit by the international financial and economic crisis and now seeks to diversify abroad, the executive explained.

"Until now, we have not has a strong presence outside the United States. That is why we want to develop activities abroad," he said.

In Germany, GE is also holding "discussions" to find a partner able to help develop the US group's brands, Beccalli-Falco said.


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