Värde Partners, KKR & Co and Deutsche Bank AG agreed to buy General Electric Co's Australia and New Zealand financial services unit in what they described as one of the region's largest private equity deals.
GE Capital Corp's Australia and New Zealand Consumer Lending Business will be purchased at an enterprise value of A$8.2 billion ($6.3 billion), the companies said on Sunday. Advisers to GE are Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley. Advisors to the acquiring consortium are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Moelis & Co and Citigroup Inc.
"This partnership will provide a platform for growth in the dynamic consumer finance market," George Hicks, co-chief executive officer of Minneapolis-based Värde Partners, said in a statement. "It is a natural extension of our deep expertise in specialty consumer finance and a great fit for us."
The unit, which provides GE-branded credit cards and personal loans, has about A$7 billion of gross assets, people with knowledge of the matter said in December. It has about 100 branches and operates store cards for Perth-based Wesfarmers Ltd.'s Coles supermarkets and Myer Holdings Ltd.
"GE has a strong platform for growth in our industrial businesses in Australia and New Zealand," said Geoff Culbert, president and CEO of GE Australia & New Zealand. "This transaction allows us to focus on our strategy to be the world's premier infrastructure technology company with a specialty commercial financial services business. We will continue to work with our customers in key industries including oil and gas, energy, healthcare, aviation and mining."
