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    GE ups its digital game, snaring two 3-D printing companies 

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1577 Views
    WASHINGTON (AP) --

    General Electric is continuing its push into the digital realm, spending $1.4 billion to acquire two European 3-D printing companies.

    At the same time, it's upping its old-school manufacturing capabilities with technology that will allow it to quickly punch out components for the automotive, airline and health industries at the whim of any client.

    The Fairfield, Conn. company said Tuesday that it expects the acquisition of Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AB to boost revenue within its 3-D printing business to $1 billion by 2020.

    GE has shed most of its financial service business to focus on its high-tech industrial operations. It had, before the deal announced Tuesday, invested $1.5 billion in 3-D manufacturing technologies since 2010.

    Last February, in a letter to shareholders, GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt promised an earnings boost and payout to shareholders while detailing his vision of a more nimble, technology-based company. Once the most valuable company in the world, GE's market value has declined by about $70 billion during the past decade.

    Shares of General Electric Co., which are up more than 23 percent this year, slipped about 1 percent in midday trading.

    Analyst Kenneth Wong at Citi noted that GE paid a premium of about 36 percent for SLM Solutions and more than 53 percent for Arcam and investors took note, boosting shares of other 3-D printing companies. 3D Systems shares jumped more than 6 percent and Stratasys rose about 5 percent in midday trading Tuesday.

    In its 2016 report, Wohlers Associates, an independent 3-D printing technology consulting firm, says the industry grew by $1 billion for the second year in a row, to more than $5 billion. The number of manufacturers selling industrial-grade 3-D printers doubled from 2011 to 2015 and that about 278,000 desktop 3-D printers were sold worldwide last year, according to Wohlers.

    GE said it will keep the headquarters of the two companies in place and retain management and employees.

    Sweden's Arcam AB focuses on customers in the aerospace and health care industries. Arcam generated $68 million in revenues in 2015 and has about 285 employees. SLM Solutions Group, based in Germany, has customers are in the aerospace, energy, health care, and automotive industries. SLM had $74 million in revenues last year and has 260 employees.

    Tags:3-D printingGeneral Electric



    A Closer Look At Proposed Measures Designed To Curb Google’s Search Monopoly

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.

    The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google's business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn't likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system's slow-moving wheels.

    Here's what it all means:

    What is the Justice Department's goal?
    Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump's first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.

    "The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages."

    Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department's "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision," Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. "It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."

    It's still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump... Read More

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