“So when he was running health care — a guy who wasn’t a health care guy but an M&A guy — one could draw the conclusion
that he was preparing it for some sort of action that would maximize shareholder value.”
The health care division is still very much a part of G. E.
But analysts say that with pressure coming from investors — including the activist hedge fund Trian Partners, led by the
billionaire Nelson Peltz — health care could once again be a target for a sale or a spinoff sooner rather than later.
In an interview, Mr. Flannery said he had had “no interaction with President Trump,” adding
that the administration’s proposals to cut taxes and spend on infrastructure represented an “agenda” that G. E.
But Mr. Flannery suggested that he would try to steer clear of politics as he conducted his review of the company.
And analysts spoke approvingly of his behind-the-scenes maneuvering in various G. E.
deals — particularly the $13.5 billion agreement two years ago to take over the power business of the French giant Alstom and the spinoff
that year of G. E.’s consumer finance arm, Synchrony Financial.
“What has always struck me about his background is that he ran G. E.’s business development — that is G. E.
shorthand for mergers and acquisitions,” said Deane Dray, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
There, under the direction of Mr. Immelt to transform the company
and shed various businesses, Mr. Flannery negotiated the Alstom deal in France and also spun off Synchrony and sold off G. E.’s refrigerator business.
