GE To Sell U.S. Healthcare Finance Unit To Capital One For $9 Bln

(RTTNews) - Conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) said Tuesday that it has agreed to sell $8.5 billion of healthcare-related loans and its Healthcare Financial Services U.S. lending business to Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) for about $9 billion.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Separately, GE has signed an agreement with another buyer to sell about $600 million of Healthcare Financial Services real estate equity investments.

GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services provides financing to U.S. healthcare companies, sponsors, investors and developers across various healthcare sectors including senior housing, hospitals, medical offices, outpatient services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Darren Alcus, president and CEO of Healthcare Financial Services, will join Capital One. Capital One also will retain the HFS management team and employees.

GE is embarking on a strategy to focus on its high-value industrial businesses and is selling most GE Capital assets.

GE Capital will retain the financing "verticals" that relate to GE's industrial businesses, including a unit that provides healthcare equipment financing to GE Healthcare customers and others.

When completed, the deal will contribute about $1.5 billion of capital to the overall target of about $35 billion of dividends expected to GE under that plan.

GE said it is on track to reduce total ENI at GE Capital by about $100 billion by year end. With this deal, the total for announced sales is about $78 billion.