Recent News: Weather Channel, NBC, China Growth, Appliance Sale (Videocon, LG, HAIER, Arcelik), Water, Energy, Saudi Arabia, and Immelt Trading

NBC Universal a top Weather Channel bidder-source
General Electric Co's NBC Universal, in partnership with the Blackstone Group, is seen as a leading contender for the Weather Channel, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday...

INTERVIEW-GE Fanuc expects faster growth in greater China
GE Fanuc, General Electric's production systems venture with Japan's Fanuc Ltd, expects its greater China sales will grow up to 30 percent annually over the next four to five years, up from about 20 percent now, as regional firms look to improve efficiency....

GE chief executive defends company's broad portfolio in face of calls to shed more businesses
General Electric Co.'s chief executive officer on Wednesday defended the industrial conglomerate's broad array of businesses and his decisions to sell off several units.
Jeffrey Immelt has been under pressure to shed more businesses, particularly after the Fairfield-based company's disappointing first-quarter earnings release last month in which profit fell 6 percent, to $4.3 billion (€2.73 billion)...

Videocon may bid for GE's appliances division
Videocon, the diversified electronics and retail business group, is studying an invitation from General Electric (GE) to bid for its century-old appliances division, which it has put up for sale...

General Electric should not sell NBC Universal
Lately, I've been hearing a lot of chatter about General Electric and its NBC Universal asset. Specifically, there's been talk about the future of the movie and television business and its role as a productive member of the GE portfolio. There are a lot of pundits out there who would like to see it sold off; probably a lot of investors would like that, too. Thankfully, CEO Jeffrey Immelt isn't one of them; he has consistently and steadfastly denied that NBC Universal will be offered to buyers in the near future. I hope he retains such opinion, because I definitely think GE needs NBC Universal....

LG Electronics Is Looking At GE's Appliance Unit
LG Electronics Inc.'s chief executive said the company is taking a close look at General Electric Co.'s appliance unit, which has recently been put up for sale, though he stopped short of declaring an interest in buying it....

HAIER Group Corp bids to buy GE unit under study
HAIER Group Corp is considering buying General Electric Co's consumer-appliance unit, the Economic Observer reported, citing an unidentified official with Haier. Haier has held talks with China Development Bank on financing the bid which could cost between 4 billion U.S. dollars and 8 billion U.S. dollars, the Beijing-based newspaper said in a report last Saturday. The Qingdao-based company hasn't yet made contact with GE about a possible purchase of the unit which makes refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers, the weekly newspaper said...

Turkey's Arcelik eyes to buy GE's appliance unit
Arcelik, Turkey's largest manufacturer of household appliances is among the several potential suitors vying to acquire the electrical household appliances of world giant General Electric (GE), company Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said on Wednesday....

General Electric to Cut Water Usage by 20% by 2012
General Electric Co., the world's biggest maker of power-generation equipment and jet engines, plans to reduce water consumption by one-fifth by 2012 as part of its conservation efforts.
In addition to the first-ever water reduction pledge, Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE also said it intends to have $25 billion in sales of environmentally friendlier products and services by 2010, a 25 percent increase...

GE Energy signs $500 million for gas turbines, generators in Saudi Arabia
GE Energy, a General Electric Co. business, has signed contracts of more than $500 million (€319.37 million) to build and install gas turbines and generators at Saudi Arabian power plants, the company announced....

GE unit wins $500 million Saudi power contract
General Electric Co said on Thursday that its GE Energy unit had won $500 million in contracts to supply gas turbines and generators to various power plants owned by the Saudi Electricity Co...

Immelt Sells And Buys GE
Jeff Immelt was the consummate salesman Wednesday as he fanned the flames around the proposed sale of GE's appliance business by outing several bidders. He was also selling when he bought up more company stock, but with that move he was selling himself....

General Electric CEO buys 115,000 shares
The chief executive of General Electric Co. bought 115,000 shares of the conglomerate on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing. In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Jeffrey Immelt said he bought the shares for prices ranging from $30.59 to $30.66 a share, for a total of about $3.5 million....