GE's Immelt says appliances unit "easily sellable"

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N) has already had a lot of inquiries from potential buyers of its appliances unit, mostly from outside the United States, the company's top executive said on Wednesday.

"We've had a lot of inquiries in the business and we think this is an asset that is easily sellable even in a difficult market," said Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of the second-largest U.S. company by market capitalization. "Most of the potential buyers are outside the United States."

GE also likes the idea of spinning the appliances arm off directly to investors, Immelt said.

"We're looking seriously at the spin option," he told investors. "What we like to do in divestitures is to only talk about those things we can do with certainly but I think the spin option may give us a way to do it in a very economic way."

GE last week said it may part with its century-old appliances unit, which last year generated revenue of $7.2 billion. Analysts have estimated the business could sell for $4 billion to $8 billion.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; editing by Maureen Bavdek)