General Electric said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its Healthcare Financial Services and related loans to US bank Capital One for $9 billion.

The HFS deal covers $8.5 billion of healthcare-linked loans, said GE, which is restructuring to focus on its core industrial business and selling off most GE Capital Assets.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

"This announcement is the next step in GE's transformation to a more focused industrial company," said Keith Sherin, GE Capital chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

The conglomerate, which produces a wide range of products, from aircraft engines and home appliances to power plants and smart meters, wants industrial activities to generate 90 percent of its profits in 2018, compared with 58 percent in 2014.

GE also said it had signed an agreement with another buyer to sell about $600 million of HFS real-estate equity investments.

Sherin said that GE Capital was on track to sell most of its assets, and the company would be "substantially done with our exit strategy by the end of 2016."

With the current transaction included, GE has sold about $78 billion in financial assets and is aiming for $100 billion by year-end.
Source: AFP