GE Looks To Be An M&A Player

There has been plenty of deal-making going on lately though GE has not been any part of it. General Electric GE has been sitting out of M&A's lately. In a recent Reuters report, GE vice chairman John Rice said, “We have a number of opportunities that are in the pipeline, some closer to realization than others." He also noted earlier this month that the couple plans to have $30 billion available for takeovers over the next couple of years. He adds, “I'd expect before too long that we'd have some things to talk about.” Many other technology companies have been active in M&A lately such as Hewlett Packard HPQ Intel INTC, and 3m MMM. GE was hit hard by the financial crisis over the past couple of years, as it has concentrated on conserving cash for future deals. Its last big venture came in 2008 when it bought out Vital Signs and Whatman PLC for $1.5 billion. When GE closes the sale of NBC Universal to Comcast Corp CMCSA, it will have yet another big pay day. Aside from M&A GE hopes to bring value back to its investors by buying back preferred shares from Warren Buffet during the crisis as well as raising the dividend. GE is trading at $16.53 CMCSA is trading at $18.02 HPQ is at $39.45 MMM shares are at $86.51 INTC share are trading at $19