General Electric Co. is trying to offload the bulk of its digital assets as it presses ahead with its restructuring efforts.

The Wall Street Journal on Monday cited people familiar with the matter as saying that GE has retained the services of an investment bank to auction off parts of its digital division, though it’s not clear at this stage exactly which parts of the business are for sale.

GE has lined up several potential buyers, including software firms and industrial companies that want to scale up their own digital efforts, the Journal said.

The GE Digital business unit was established under the watch of former Chief Executive Jeff Immelt in 2015, as part of his vision to transform the firm into a “digital industrial” company. But following Immelt’s resignation last year, new CEO John Flannery has scaled back the firm’s industrial internet ambitions to focus on its more traditional core businesses.

Immelt had originally stated his ambition to make GE a top-10 software company by 2020, and hired thousands of software programmers while funding massive research into those efforts. The company spent more than $4 billion creating analytics and machine learning software in 2016 alone, the Journal said. GE also put its digital business at the forefront of its marketing efforts, touting a new “digital industrial” age.

However, GE found itself up against some serious competition in more established software companies such as IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp., as well as a clutch of startups.

GE’s divestment of its digital business should serve as a warning to other players also attempting a lateral move into the IoT, Holger Mueller, principal analyst and vice president of Constellation Research Inc., told SiliconANGLE. He said GE’s rationale that “just because you build the machines, you also own the platform” will now likely be scrutinized by other manufacturing companies looking to invest into the IoT.

“The key question for customers now is what platform can and should they run their GE machines on going forward?” Mueller asked. “Let’s hope for a graceful exit by the company, not leaving its early adopters stranded, which would be a triple negative for GE, its clients and the overall industry.”

Flannery announced GE’s restructuring following a steep fall in the company’s stock price last year, and has already said he’s planning to sell its gas services business unit, Baker Hughes. The company is also planning to spin off its healthcare and railroad locomotive businesses, the Journal said. GE will instead double down on its core aviation, power and renewable energy businesses.

GE refused to acknowledge the report, telling the Journal that it doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

The Journal said the proceeds from the sale of its digital business are unlikely to have much impact on GE, which is valued at more than $100 billion.

Image: GE