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GE, Smiths Group form joint venture

GE, Smiths Group form joint venture

LONDON and FAIRFIELD, Conn.--General Electric and Smiths Group announced this week a letter of intent to form a joint venture, to be called Smiths GE Detection, which will join GE Homeland Protection and Smiths Detection, and be owned 64 percent by Smiths and 36 percent by General Electric. Stephen Phipson, currently group managing director of Smiths Detection, will serve as Smiths GE's first president. The creation of the joint venture hinges on board and shareholder approval, as well as completion of a $4.8 million deal whereby Smiths will sell its Aerospace division to GE. There are no voluntary exit rights for either company for the first five years. The Smiths GE board will be chaired by Keith Butler-Wheelhouse, the chief executive of Smiths. Four other Smiths representatives and two GE representatives will complete the board. GE Homeland Protection and Smiths Detection are the two leading manufacturers of scanning devices used in airports and other screening applications. For more on this transaction, see the March issue of Security Systems News.

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