Are you Worried about a Breakup?

Since posting about my recent purchase of GE I’ve been emailed a number of times asking if I’m concerned about the increasing pressure being exerted on GE to breakup. Well the answer is no, absolutely not! Personally, I think that the real value of a world class conglomerate like GE would be unlocked if it was broken up into their separate operating divisions. It’s very rare that large conglomerates trade at a value equal to the sum of their parts and I think that GE is no exception. As a shareholder of a conglomerate you really have nothing to lose from a breakup. Instead of owning many shares of one world class company you’d own less shares of many world class companies. The only difference being is that you can sell the divisions you don’t like and in all likely hood the value of the separate companies would be greater than that of the conglomerate. So to make a short answer long----breakups are an investors best friend.