GE consolidates from six units to four

GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt announced Friday that the company has consolidated its organizational structure, and its healthcare unit is no longer stand-alone.

Effective immediately, GE said it is moving from six to four segments, including two infrastructure segments:

• GE Technology Infrastructure: Led by Vice Chairman John Rice, the segment includes Healthcare, Aviation, Transportation and Enterprise Solutions;
• GE Energy Infrastructure: Led by newly appointed Vice Chairman John Krenicki, the segment includes Energy, Oil & Gas and Water;
• GE Capital: Led by Vice Chairman Mike Neal, the segment aggregates all the financial service businesses including Commercial Finance, GE Money (GECAS, Energy Financial Services) and Corporate Treasury; and
• NBC Universal: Led by Jeff Zucker, the segment is unchanged.

Immelt also said that the GE board of directors had named Krenicki, a 24-year GE veteran, as a vice chairman of GE. Since 2005, Krenicki has been president and CEO of GE Energy, a supplier of power generation technology, energy services and energy management systems. Previously, he was president and CEO of GE Plastics and GE Advanced Materials.

“We have higher-growth, higher-margin businesses and organizationally have simplified the company from 11 business segments in 2001 to four segments today,” Immelt said.

Bloomberg News reported that approximately $81 billion of GE’s market value has evaporated since April, when Immelt disclosed a first-quarter earnings decline that he attributed to turmoil in financial markets.

Immelt announced plans to sell GE’s consumer-lending operations in Japan for approximately $5.4 billion this month. The company also plans to spin-off of its consumer lighting and electrical switches business, in addition to the appliances unit.