GE set to sell Europe private equity unit to SMBC for over $2 bln -source

General Electric Co is close to selling its European private equity financing unit to Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) for more than $2 billion, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the U.S. industrial conglomerate sheds its financial assets amid a restructuring. SMBC will be buying a unit that has some 2 billion euros worth of loans that carry a wider spread margin than most corporate loans, the source said. This makes the deal attractive to the core banking unit of Japan's third largest bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, which is trying to diversify away from the fiercely competitive corporate lending sector.

GE set to sell Europe private equity unit to SMBC for over $2 bln -source source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-set-sell-europe-private-052714764.html