GE to Sell Tank Car Leasing Portfolio and Railcar Repair Facilities to Marmon Holdings and Remaining Railcar Leasing Business to Wells Fargo

GE (NYSE:GE) announced today that it has reached separate agreements to sell its tank car fleet assets and railcar repair facilities to Marmon Holdings, Inc., and its remaining railcar leasing business, General Electric Railcar Services LLC, to Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC). Terms of the transactions are not being disclosed.

“These transactions are another example of the value generated by GE Capital’s strong businesses and exceptional teams as we continue to demonstrate speed and execute on our strategy to sell most of the assets of GE Capital,” said Keith Sherin, GE Capital chairman and CEO. “We expect to be substantially done with our exit strategy by the end of 2016,” he added.

GE Railcar Services leases a broad range of railcars as well as locomotives to shippers and railroads across North America.

“We’re pleased to sell our railcar business and, separately, our tank car fleet and railcar repair shops, to buyers that are long-term players in the industry committed to expanding the businesses,” said Sherin.

As previously announced, GE is embarking on a strategy to focus on its high-value industrial businesses and is selling most GE Capital assets. GE and its Board of Directors have determined that market conditions are favorable to pursue disposition of these assets. GE Capital will retain the financing “verticals” that relate to GE’s industrial businesses.

The sale of the tank car assets is effective immediately and closed today. The sale of the railcar repair facilities is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015. The sale of the remaining railcar leasing business is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

When completed, the Rail transactions, which represent about $4.0 billion of ending net investment , will contribute approximately $1.3 billion of capital to the overall target of approximately $35 billion of dividends expected to GE under this plan (subject to regulatory approval).

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. provided financial advice to GE and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP provided legal advice.

Other GE Capital Divestiture Updates

Earlier today, Mubadala GE Capital Ltd, a joint venture between GE Capital and Mubadala Development Company, announced the sale of substantially all of its assets ($3.6 billion of assets; $1.5 billion of GE Capital ending net investment) to MidCap Finco Ltd (MidCap). MidCap is managed by Apollo Capital Management, L.P., a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, LLC. The transaction will contribute approximately $0.7 billion of capital to the overall target of approximately $35 billion of dividends expected to GE under this plan (subject to regulatory approval). It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Additionally, today GE completed the previously announced sale of its Mexican, Australian, and New Zealand fleet businesses, representing aggregate ending net investment (ENI) of approximately $1.7 billion, to Element Financial Corporation (TSX:EFN). Element acquired GE’s U.S. fleet services business in August. The completion of the sale of GE’s European fleet businesses to Arval, a fully owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

With signing of the Rail and Mubadala transactions, the total for announced sales year-to-date is approximately $95 billion.

Sherin concluded, “We are extremely pleased with the progress we have made thus far with the sales of our businesses and GE’s transformation to a more focused digital industrial company.”

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

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