General Electric to sell financing unit to Wells Fargo

General Electric has struck a deal to sell GE Capital’s global commercial distribution finance and corporate finance businesses, which have about $32bn of assets and around 3,000 employees, to Wells Fargo.

GE said the deal, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of next year, will contribute approximately $4.2bn of capital to the overall target of around $35bn of dividends expected to be paid to GE under the disposition plan.

Chairman and chief executive officer Keith Sherin said: “This is our largest transaction to date and a critical step in our efforts to reduce the size of GE Capital.

“Since our April 10 announcement, we’ve signed more than $126bn in transactions, which is over 60% of our overall plan, and are on track to become less than 10% of GE’s earnings as the company transitions to a more focused digital industrial company.”

GE did not disclose the terms of the sale.