GE divests silicones business.

GE Advanced Materials in Wilton, Conn., a supplier of silicones, silanes, urethane additives, and quartz products, will be sold to Apollo Management L.P., a private equity firm based in Purchase, N.Y., for $3.8 billion. A spokesman for General Electric Co. said the silicones and quartz businesses don't fit GE's "high-growth, high-return" business strategy. He said the sale repositions the company's industrial division for faster growth. That division includes GE Plastics, which is not part of the deal with Apollo.

GE also has agreed with Toshiba of Japan and Bayer AG of Germany to acquire their respective stakes in two joint ventures, GE Toshiba Silicones and GE Bayer Silicones. Those ventures will become wholly owned by GE and sold to Apollo. The deal is expected to close by the year's end. Last year, Apollo bought Borden Chemical, Resolution Performance Products, and Resolution Specialty Materials and merged them to form Hexion Specialty Chemicals.