GE may sell industrial engine unit to private equity firm Advent: WSJ

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An employee prepares a composite engine case component for inspection at the GE Aviation manufacturing facility in Batesville, Mississippi.

General Electric may sell a unit that manufactures industrial engines to a private equity firm, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, as part of a wide ranging effort to revitalize the moribund manufacturing giant.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said GE could complete a transaction as soon as Monday that would be worth $3 billion or more. Advent International is said to have topped another firm that also bid on the unit, the publication said.

The company’s CEO, John Flannery, is in the middle of a broad restructuring that may see the industrial behemoth sell or spin off swaths of its portfolio. Toward that end, GE is examining multiple ways to sell or spin off more than $20 billion in assets.

Last week, CNBC’s David Faber said the company was poised to make a significant announcement about its future by the end of the month. GE’s efforts are not expected to include a full-fledged break-up, but something will be spun off.

Shares of GE are about to be removed from the Dow Jones industrial average, where they have been a fixture since 1907 and even before that, as an original component.

A spokesperson did not immediately return CNBC’s request for comment.

–CNBC’s Liz Moyer, David Faber and Michael Sheetz contributed to this report.