GE GE Aerospace

By Thomas Gryta and Cara Lombardo 

General Electric Co. is getting out of the business of making lightbulbs, selling a unit that defined the company for nearly a century but had become one of its last consumer products.

GE said it would sell its lighting business to Savant Systems Inc., a seller of home automation technology. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed but the transaction valued the unit at around $250 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

GE had been looking to sell the business for several years. The conglomerate once made refrigerators, microwaves and bulbs but has exited those consumer businesses as part of a yearslong restructuring. It has shifted its focus to making heavy equipment, like power turbines, aircraft engines and hospital machines.

GE Lighting will remain based in Cleveland, and its more than 700 employees will transfer to Savant, which will also get a long-term license for the GE brand. GE no longer discloses revenue for the lighting business, which it slimmed down over the years.

The unit traces its roots back to GE's founding 130 years ago when Thomas Edison invented the first viable incandescent lamp. In 1935, the first Major League Baseball night game was played under GE lights. A GE engineer invented the LED light in 1962.

Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com and Cara Lombardo at cara.lombardo@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2020 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.