GE to Sell Corporate Aircraft Portfolio in $2.5 Billion Deal
October 05 2015 - 10:19AM
Dow Jones News
By Tess Stynes
General Electric Co. agreed to sell its corporate aircraft
financing portfolio in the Americas to Global Jet Capital in a deal
valued at roughly $2.5 billion, as the conglomerate proceeds with
its plan to focus more on its industrial businesses.
GE Capital Chairman and Chief Executive Keith Sherin said Global
Jet Capital is "an up-and-coming player in the corporate aircraft
space" and is a "well-backed private-equity player eager to expand
its corporate aircraft portfolio."
Earlier this year, GE said it would divest itself of the bulk of
GE Capital, the giant finance business that had long accounted for
about half of its profits but whose risks had rattled investors and
weighed on its stock. GE had been scaling down GE Capital since the
financial crisis in 2008. But the finance arm was still large
enough that federal regulators designated it as a "systemically
important financial institution," subjecting it to tougher
regulatory standards.
With the corporate aircraft portfolio deal, expected to close
over the next several months, GE Capital said it has announced a
total of $97 billion in deals this year. The transaction is
expected to contribute roughly $300 million toward GE's dividend
target of $35 billion under the divestment plan.
The corporate aircraft portfolio includes loans and leases as
well as more than 300 fixed-wing aircraft across the U.S., Canada,
Mexico and Latin America. A team of GE employees linked to the
business also will be retained by Global Jet Capital.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2015 10:04 ET (14:04 GMT)
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