A Reuters report said the finance arm of General Electric purchased Deutsche Postbank's portfolio that mainly contained loans in British commercial real estate worth GBP1.4 billion or USD2.3 billion. The acquisition by GE Capital was a strategic one, as it seeks to expand its business to refinancing and new loans.
GE Capital Real Estate has been a provider of leases, commercial loans and financing solutions for the middle market. It manages USD40 billion in assets worldwide. Reuters noted that the division was expecting to finalize its Deutsche Postbank transaction before the year ends.
The loans, said GE Capital, consisted of commercial property loans. Majority of the loans, GE Capital added, were up for renegotiation. 90% of the loans are located in Britain and had been backed against prime retail estate in central London like shops, offices and hotels, said a GE Capital Real Estate spokeswoman. The other 10% were backed against properties located in France and Germany.
Chief executive of GE Capital Real Estate Mark Begor said, "This transaction supports GE's plans to grow our core commercial real estate lending business globally."
The Real estate division is one among the many divisions in GE Capital. The other divisions in GE Capital are GE Money, GE Capital Aviation Services, GE Commercial Distribution Finance and GE Energy Financial Services.
GE Capital also provides lending, leasing and other financial solutions in healthcare, communications, media, aviation consumers and entertainment. It has over 60,000 employees worldwide and operates in over 55 countries with assets totaling USD551 billion.
GE's financial arm reportedly underwrites its leases and loans to its own balance sheet, as opposed to generate fees normally by originating the debt and sell them to third-party entities.
According to the company's factsheet, GE capital provides services to small and medium-sized companies or SMEs. 70% of the loans GE Capital provided are under USD100 million.
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