(Reuters) - General Electric Co (>> General Electric Company) is in talks to sell its century-old household appliances business for as much as $2.5 billion (1.45 billion pounds), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The business, which had revenue of more than $8 billion in 2013, may fetch $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion in a sale, Bloomberg quoted the people as saying. (http://bloom.bg/1oYC38h)

GE was waiting to wrap up its acquisition of Alstom SA's (>> ALSTOM) energy assets before pursuing options, including an outright sale, for its appliances business, Bloomberg reported, citing one of the people.

With the Alstom deal signed, GE is talking to bidders for its appliances and lighting business, Bloomberg quoted the people as saying.

GE spokesman Seth Martin declined to comment.

The business sells home appliances under the GE Monogram, GE Cafe and Hotpoint brands.

The move is part of GE's strategy of divesting businesses and restructuring itself to boost its valuation to be in line with its peers.

The company has outlined plans to divest $4 billion worth of industrial businesses this year to focus its portfolio on businesses with high returns.

GE's shares were up 1.7 percent at $27.06 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Savio D'Souza)

Stocks treated in this article : ALSTOM, General Electric Company