General Electric (GE) recently announced plans to establish an independent company focused on building a comprehensive industrial internet of things (IIoT) software portfolio. The new company will start with $1.2 billion in annual software revenue and an existing global industrial customer base.
The company is intended to be a wholly owned, independently run business with a new brand and identity, its own equity structure, and its own board of directors. The proposed organization aims to bring together GE Digital's IIoT solutions and the GE Power digital and grid software solutions businesses.
GE's new IIoT business will provide software for asset-intensive industries with an emphasis on the power, renewables, aviation, oil and gas, food and beverage, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, and mining industries.
Additionally, GE announced an agreement to sell a majority stake in ServiceMax, a leading provider of field service management software, to Silver Lake, a private equity firm specializing in technology investments. With these actions, GE hopes to set up the new business for future growth. The transaction is expected to close in 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
"As an early leader in IIoT, GE has built a strong business with its industrial customers thanks to deep domain knowledge and software expertise," said H. Lawrence Culp Jr., GE chairman and CEO. "As an independently operated company, our digital business will be best positioned to advance our strategy to focus on our core verticals to deliver greater value for our customers and generate new value for shareholders."
For more information, visit www.ge.com.
