GE announces acquisition, closure of Conn. facility

BRADENTON, Fla.--Following a flurry of activity in the last month including moving its Infrastructure, Security division to Bradenton, Fla., GE made two additional moves in mid-June--the company's acquisition of digital video networking provider VisioWave and the upcoming closure of a facility in Cheshire, Conn. VisioWave, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with additional offices located around the globe, provides a high-end digital video technology that adds another layer to GE's growing line of products. "VisioWave is a digital technology that fits well with what we are trying to do in the security industry," said Michelle May, communications manager GE Infrastructure, Security. And May said that what GE is trying to accomplish in the market is to provide various security technologies. "VisioWave is a great build out for our portfolio," she said. At this juncture, it is business as usual at VisioWave, which employs 90 people, as the integration process gets underway. The purchase price was not released. In other news, GE filed a notice with Connecticut officials announcing the closure of the Cheshire, Conn., location. The facility, which employs 52, houses financial, customer service and other administrative positions for what was formerly Edwards Systems Technologies, which GE purchased in March for $1.4 billion from SPX Corp. May said the closure is part of the ongoing integration between the two companies and also follows the company decision to move its security headquarters to the Edwards' facility in Florida. "With an acquisition like this, we always look for opportunities for consolidation and reduce redundancies," May said. "And there was a bulk of the technology population in Bradenton, which was a place we wanted to circle that business around as well." She said that approximately half of the 52 employees will be offered customer service and signaling positions in the company's Plainville, Conn., facility and 10 would be offered positions in Florida. Others who are not offered positions will be provided with outplacement and severance pay to help with the transition to new employment. "When a plant is closed, every one of those 52 employees are impacted," May said. "These are difficult actions."