Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Burgeoning Saudi Firm Snags GE Plastics

$11.6B deal is Gulf region's biggest ever

Share

(Newser) – A Saudi chemical company will take over General Electric's plastics division in a deal worth $11.6 billion, the companies said today. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or Sabic, beat out Dutch-owned Basell for GE Plastics, which was put up for sale in January. The purchase, the largest ever by a Gulf-based company, is seen as a coup for Sabic.

The sale is CEO Jeff Immelt's latest move to diversify GE into faster-growing industries. GE Plastics, once an engine for innovation, has become a commodity producer facing volatile commodity prices. That’s what makes Sabic a good fit, Bloomberg suggests: It uses by-products from Saudi Arabia's oil and natural gas industries to produce plastic at a lower cost than international competitors.

'
'   (IndexOpen (http://www.indexopen.com))
(FILES)This 18 September 2003 file photo shows the GE logo on...
(FILES)This 18 September 2003 file photo shows the GE logo on...   (Getty Images)
Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, speaks at the company's healthcare summit on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, speaks at the company's healthcare summit on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)   (Associated Press)
General Electric chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Immelt speaks to the media prior to addressing shareholders at the annual meeting in Greenville, S.C., Wednesday, April 25, 2007. Immelt says the company expects to sell its plastics unit in the second or third quarter this year, divesting itself of a...
General Electric chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Immelt speaks to the media prior to addressing shareholders at the annual meeting in Greenville, S.C., Wednesday, April 25, 2007. Immelt says the...   (Associated Press)
(FILES) Picture dated 27 May 2005 shows US giant General Electric...
(FILES) Picture dated 27 May 2005 shows US giant General Electric...   (Getty Images (by Event))
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

16 Stories

Yahoo Planned Huge Worker Walkout: Lawsuit

Execs also hid $1.5B Microsoft offer to employees

Jun 2, 08 9:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Yahoo planned to pay all 14,000 workers to quit if Microsoft bought the company in a recent takeover bid, a lawsuit unsealed today claims. The shareholder complaint blasts execs for burying Microsoft's $1.5 billion offer to workers, and rejecting a $40-per-share offer last year. Yahoo tried to stop... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Yahoo • Microsoft • merger • Jerry Yang • lawsuit • acquisition

Microsoft Aims for Yahoo's Search Ad Biz

But execs don't like plan, which includes breaking up company

May 19, 08 9:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Microsoft's new offer to Yahoo includes breaking up the company and buying its search-advertising business, notions that have left Yahoo execs cold, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the plan, Yahoo would sell its Asian assets and let Microsoft buy a minority stake in what's left of the company. More »

MORE ABOUT:
Yahoo • Microsoft • merger • Jerry Yang • acquisition • Steve Ballmer

Murdoch Says $5B Is Final Offer for Dow Jones

Mogul won't raise offer to push stalling Bancroft family

Jun 27, 07 4:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rupert Murdoch won't raise his $5B bid for Dow Jones, the media mogul said today. Murdoch deflected speculation that he would up the ante to move along negotiations with the openly skeptical Bancroft family, which owns a majority stake in the Journal publisher. Instead, Reuters reports, Murdoch is suggesting he... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Rupert Murdoch • Wall Street Journal • Dow Jones • Bancroft family • merger • business • acquisition • News Corp

16 Stories


Related articles

In recent years, Plastics has lagged behind
Wall Street Journal Subscription

Gulf-region companies, flush with oil money, look for slick investments
Financial Times (UK)

Price beat market expectations
Reuters

Announcement barely moves stocks
MarketWatch

Related blog posts

Deal still doesn't offer what investors want: major restructuring
Blogging Stocks


Business 
TwitterFollow @Newser on Twitter

 
Saudi Arabia • plastic • takeovers • Saudi Basic Industries Corp. • General Electric • merger • acquisition • Sabic • Basell • GE Plastics

from our news partners