General Electric to sell 43% stake in S Korean credit card firm Hyundai Card Co
02 Feb 2017
General Electric (GE) struck a deal on Wednesday to sell its 43-per cent stake in South Korean credit card firm Hyundai Card Co Ltd for 298 billion won ($258 million).
GE is selling its stake to Hyundai Commercial, Affinity Equity Partners, GIC and AlpInvest.
Hyundai Commercial is an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group. Affinity is a leading private equity investor focusing on pan-Asia region. GIC is a sovereign wealth fund established by the government of Singapore and AlpInvest is a leading global private equity investor.
Hyundai Card Co. is a joint venture between GE and Hyundai that issues credit cards in the South Korean market.
GE did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but Hyundai Commercial said in a regulatory filing that it will buy 30.5 million Hyundai Card shares from GE for 298 billion won for "management purposes".
''As we continue to sell most of the assets of GE Capital, we have worked with our joint venture partner, Hyundai, to find the solution that works best for all parties,'' said Rich Laxer, GE Capital chairman and CEO.
''We're pleased that we were able to fully exit our stakes in Hyundai Card Co. Hyundai has been a great partner over the last 12 years providing value for customers,'' he added.
GE had earlier announced that it will focus on its high-value industrial businesses and will sell most GE Capital assets. GE will retain the financing businesses that relate directly to GE's industrials.
Since the announcement in April 2015, GE Capital has signed agreements for the sale of approximately $198 billion of businesses, including this transaction, and has closed approximately $190 billion of those transactions.
GE Capital has largely completed the process of selling approximately $200 billion of the GE Capital businesses.
