GE: EU accession will speed up economic growth

The first step will be the consolidation of recent acquisitions, followed by the company’s expansion in areas such as power, infrastructure, financial services, medical equipment and even real estate, says Nanni Beccalli, head of General Electric International.
“We are focusing on areas witnessing growth and Romania is part of Eastern Europe, a highly promising region beside Russia, China, India, South-East Asia, Latin America and the Near East. Romania is joining the EU and this will accelerate growth and bring many infrastructure projects,” states the GE representative.
According to him, when Spain and Ireland joined the EU, there were expectations growth in these countries would slow down, but they witnessed quite an opposite effect. Spanish and Irish economies boomed and this is expected to happen in the case of Romania and Bulgaria, too, which are readying to become members in January 1st, 2007. GE, the world’s second biggest company in terms of market value after Exxon Mobil, operates globally and has taken a decisive step in Romania over the past year.
The company holds the most diversified activity portfolio in the world, from energy, aeronautics, financial services, to media and medical equipment and is applying its global vision in Romania as well, where it targets several sectors.
“We’ve invested 220 million euros over the past twelve months and there may be years when investments could come to 200 or even 500 million if there are opportunities matching our plans on the market,” says Beccalli.
GE this year paid, though its GE Money unit, 140 million euros to buy Ralfi (owner of the Estima Finance brand on the consumer finance market), Leasemart NV (operating Motoractive Leasing company) and Domenia Credit (mortgage lending market).
“(…) We want to strengthen our position on the market of financial services, both through organic growth and through acquisitions,” says the head of GE International. “Logically, there will also be a move to bring all these companies under a single umbrella. The companies acquired by GE Money also need to go through a rebranding process (…),” said Nanni Beccalli.
Given such an exposure in the financial services area, many players consider strengthening their position with a brand, and so does GE. According to its strategy, the US group also plans to include a bank in its portfolio, but GE officials did not specify whether the target involved a greenfield project or an acquisition.
Another business opportunity for GE is the medical equipment segment, but GE is also interested in real estate projects in Romania, viewed as one of the most attractive businesses in Europe now. At the same time, GE also wants to become part of the business related to reactors 3 and 4 of Cernavoda nuclear power station.

GE in Romania
Applies its global vision in Romania, too, targeting several sectors
Has invested more than 220m euros over the past 12 months
Has recently taken over Ralfi (consumer finance), Motoractive (leasing) and Domenia Credit (mortgages) for 140m euros
Has invested 80m euros to create a business services platform
Plans to include a bank in its portfolio
Is interested in the medical equipment segment, as well as in real estate projects