SABIC Buys GEP

We've been sold! The Saudi government's SABIC (Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp) will be announced as the company with the winning bid for General Electric's Plastics division Monday, with a bid of over $11 Billion.

This is a company with a LOT of revenue, but not many employees. They generate $20B in revenue with only 16 to 17 thousand employees. GEP has 16,000 employees, alone. They will be doubling their employment with this purchase.

That fact has already started the rumor mill spinning about plant closures. 3 plants are the targets, according to the current grapevine. Selkirk, NY, Bay St. Louis, MS, and the big plant in Indiana will be an eventual closure. What I'm hearing now is that our plant will remain open, and a new benzine plant will be added to the complex. It will become the SABIC polycarbonate supplier for North America. The plant in Spain will supply Europe, and I'm not sure about Asia. All of this is pure conjecture, not rooted in any fact. People say a lot of stuff when they're uncertain.