General Electric Co. agreed to sell its home-appliances business to China’s Qingdao Haier Co. for $5.4 billion after scrapping a deal with Electrolux AB last month, Bloomberg reported. The new pact’s premium over the $3.3 billion failed Electrolux agreement was driven in part by GE’s investment in the century-old unit to make it more competitive, said Chip Blankenship, chief executive officer of GE Appliances. “We’ve been on a multiyear journey since 2012 to introduce new products, improve quality,” Blankenship said in an interview. “Our earnings are substantially improved.”
