GE Sells Global Exchange BTB Unit for $800 Million

June 25, 2002

General Electric Co. will sell 90 percent of its struggling business-to-business e-commerce unit to technology buyout fund Francisco Partners for $800 million, the companies said yesterday.

The boards of both companies have approved the sale of the unit, GE Global Exchange, or GXS. The deal is expected to close by Oct. 31. Havey Seegers, president/CEO of GXS will continue to head the unit. GE said it expects to see a pre-tax gain of $500 million from the sale.

GXS, Gaithersburg, MD, serves 100,000 trading partners with 1 billion annual transactions accounting for $1 trillion in goods and services being bought and sold.

"GXS employees have done a great job building a very successful company," Gary Reiner, GE's chief information officer, said in a statement. "However, GXS does not fit GE's core services and growth strategies."