General Electric has put virtually all of its U.S. commercial loan businesses on the market after hiring banks to unload $20 billion of assets in its health-care, railcar and franchise finance divisions, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
GE is working with JPMorgan Chase to sell Healthcare Financial Services, a middle-market lender with about $10 billion in assets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. GE has engaged Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for the railcar lessor and Barclays to sell the franchise lender, the people said. JPMorgan is overseeing all the sales as global coordinator, one person said.
With the sales process under way for almost all of the financial assets targeted for disposal, GE is accelerating its plan to unload the bulk of its GE Capital business and refocus on industrial manufacturing. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said last month the divestiture of about $200 billion of GE Capital's operations would be done by 2016, a year earlier than the plan announced in April.
Seth Martin, a spokesman for GE, declined to comment, as did a representative for JPMorgan. Spokesmen for Deutsche Bank and Barclays didn't return calls seeking comment made outside normal business hours.
The three lending divisions now being sold account for about $20 billion of GE's commercial lending and leasing portfolio. GE has also begun marketing another $40 billion of its U.S. commercial loan assets, people familiar with the matter said last week.
