Sumitomo Mitsui Unit to Buy GE's Japan Leasing Business

TOKYO—The leasing unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday it reached an agreement to buy General Electric Co.'s Japan leasing business for ¥ 575 billion ($4.8 billion).

As part of its global plan to unwind its GE Capital financing business, GE placed the Japanese business up for sale earlier this year, and several Japanese financial institutions expressed interest.

The business for sale has an asset value of nearly $5 billion. It comprises several divisions, including auto leasing, equipment and asset leasing targeted at large- and midsize companies, as well as leasing of office and information technology equipment.

The acquisition of the GE business would make SMFG's leasing business, called Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing, a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp., one of the top players in Japan's leasing industry. The business is more attractive than traditional lending because of low interest rates on loans and sluggish loan demand.

SMFG, Japan's second-largest bank by revenue after Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., has already bought other assets from GE. In July, it bought GE's European private-equity financing business for about $2.2 billion.

GE said it received financial advice on the transaction from Morgan Stanley and the investment bank's Japanese joint venture, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing plans to make GE Japan its subsidiary in April 2016.

Write to Atsuko Fukase at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 15, 2015 03:55 ET (08:55 GMT)

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