GE Sells B2B E-Commerce Company

Compiled ByJill Jusko Explaining that it does not fit in with the company's core services and growth strategies, General Electric Co. on June 24 announced the sale of GE Global eXchange Services (GXS), its business-to-business e-commerce company. Menlo Park's Francisco Partners, a technology buyout fund, signed a definite agreement to purchase GXS, with the deal expected to close by Oct. 31, 2002. Harvey Seegers, president and CEO of GE Global eXchange Services, will continue to run the company, GE says, while GE will retain a 10% ownership stake. GXS includes more than 100,000 trading partners. "We remain committed to maintaining our leadership in digitization, with GXS remaining an important supplier of electronic commerce solutions," says Gary Reiner, GE's senior vice president and CIO.