Turkey's Arcelik eyes to buy GE's appliance unit

The company that would buy the unit with an annual turnover of $7.2 billion would become the giant of the household appliance sector, Immelt also said.

“GE's appliance unit is for sale, we are talking to several companies and Turkey's Arcelik is one of the five companies interested in buying the GE's household appliances unit,” Bloomberg on Wednesday reported Immelt as saying. �

Four more non-U.S. appliance manufacturers, including China's Haier, South Korea's LG Electronics, Sweden's Electrolux, Mexico's Controladora Mabe are potential bidders together with Turkey's Arcelik, Immelt said.

Arcelik confirmed in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange Thursday it considers to bid for GE's appliances unit but added there is no decision made, however none of the other four companies has officially confirmed their interest yet.

GE's appliances division is the biggest provider of refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers for newly-built U.S. homes.

The sale will be a long process he said, noting that the company that acquired the unit would rank among the top in the durable goods sector.

The division may fetch as much as $8 billion according to estimates by analysts at Citigroup.

After stunning investors in April with an unexpected drop in quarterly profit, GE said this month it would look to sell or spin off its appliances unit, saying the business was too focused on the United States.

Arcelik's net income plunged 51 percent last year after sales at home fell and the company bought unprofitable sister company Beko Elektronik. Profit slid to 158 million YTL ($126 million) from 324 million YTL ($263 million) a year earlier. The firm is a unit of one of the Turkey's leading holding companies, Koc.