NEW YORK/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Electrolux AB is near a deal to buy General Electric Co's iconic appliance business for more than $2.5 billion, in a move that would significantly expand its reach in North America, people familiar with the matter said.
The companies are hammering out final terms of a deal and could announce their agreement as soon as next week, the people said on Thursday, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
Discussions are ongoing and could still take longer to finalize, the people cautioned. Representatives for GE and Electrolux declined to comment.
GE's century-old household appliance business, which along with lighting generated $8.3 billion in 2013 revenue, could help the Swedish appliance manufacturer expand beyond its core European market where growth has trailed that of North America.
Electrolux, which sells under brands such as Frigidaire, AEG and Zanussi as well as its own name, is already the world's second-largest home appliance maker after Whirlpool Corp.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York and Sven Nordenstam in Stockholm, additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
