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GE's Divestment of Transportation Business Gets DOJ Approval

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General Electric Company (GE - Free Report) announced that it moved a step closer to divesting its business unit, GE Transportation, to Wabtec Corporation (WAB - Free Report) , following the closure of review on the pending deal by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Wabtec is a globally renowned manufacturer and provider of rail equipment.

It’s worth mentioning here that General Electric and Wabtec signed the divestment deal in May 2018. The value of the transaction is roughly $11.1 billion.

In the third quarter of 2018, GE Transportation generated $932 million revenues, reflecting 2% decline from the year-ago tally.

Details of the Divestment Deal

Per the agreement signed, GE Transportation — provider of technology solutions for customers in railroad, marine, drilling, wind and mining industries — will be merged with Wabtec. The deal is considered to be a win-win situation for shareholders of General Electric and Wabtec.

The combined company will have an expanded product portfolio, a larger customer base and focus on innovation. Further, it will have a larger installed base, with more than 23,000 locomotives. Combined revenues are anticipated to be approximately $8 billion.

On completion of the deal, General Electric will receive $2.9 billion in cash and shareholding stake of 50.1% in the combined entity — of which roughly 40.2% interest will be with General Electric’s shareholders and 9.9% will be with General Electric. The rest 49.9% of the stake will be with Wabtec’s shareholders.   

The transaction is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 and will be tax-free for shareholders of General Electric and Wabtec.

Zacks Rank and Stock to Consider

General Electric currently has a market capitalization of $75.9 billion and it currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). This conglomerate’s share price has moved down 28.4% in the past three months compared with 12.4% decline recorded by the industry.



We believe that General Electric stands to gain from restructuring initiatives in the long term. In June 2018, the company announced its plan to become a high-tech industrial company — focused on Aviation, Power and Renewable Energy.

Two better-ranked stocks in the industry are Hitachi, Ltd. (HTHIY - Free Report) and HC2 Holdings, Inc. . While Hitachi currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), HC2 Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hitachi’s earnings estimates for fiscal 2019 (ending March 2019) and fiscal 2020 (ending March 2020) have improved in the past 60 days. Further, the company pulled off average positive earnings surprise of 55.51% for the last four quarters.

HC2 Holdings’ bottom-line estimates remained unchanged for 2018 (results not yet released) and 2019 in the past 60 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprise of 111.90% in the last reported quarter.

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