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GE to sell European private equity financing unit to SMBC

By Editorial board
02 July 2015   |   4:26 am
GENERAL Electric Co (GE.N) said it would sell its European private equity financing business to a unit of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) for about $2.2 billion as the U.S. conglomerate sheds financial assets amid a restructuring.
GE

GE

GENERAL Electric Co (GE.N) said it would sell its European private equity financing business to a unit of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) for about $2.2 billion as the U.S. conglomerate sheds financial assets amid a restructuring.

The portfolio represents about $2.2 billion of total invested capital, GE said on Tuesday.

The portfolio carries a wider spread margin than most corporate loans, a source familiar with the matter said.

This makes the deal attractive to the core-banking unit of Japan’s third largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) (8316.T), which is trying to diversify away from the fiercely competitive corporate lending sector.

Major Japanese banks such as SMFG have been aggressively buying businesses and extending loans overseas to make up for a weak domestic market.

In 2012, SMFG acquired an aircraft leasing company from Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L) for $7.3 billion and this year, Mizuho Financial Group Inc (8411.T) agreed to buy the U.S. and Canadian loan portfolio of RBS for $3 billion.

In April, GE announced plans to exit $200 billion worth of finance assets, which made it subject to government regulation as a financial institution.

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