GE reportedly close to deal with Capital One for healthcare finance unit
Capital One Financial Corp is close to acquiring General Electric (GE) Co.’s healthcare finance unit, GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services, for over $10 billion, according to a recent report by Reuters.
Nothing has been confirmed by either side.
"As a matter of practice, we do not comment on market rumors or speculation,” Capital One said in a statement.
If the deal goes through, it would be a continuation of GE’s recent trend of unloading various GE Capital assets as it focuses more on the industrial side of its business. In April, for example, the company sold a $23 billion portfolio of office buildings and commercial real estate debt to Wells Fargo and Blackstone Group.
GE says that by 2018, this new plan will result in 90% of the company’s earnings being generated by its industrial businesses. In 2014, that number was 58%.
“We are completing another definitive and important move to reshape GE for the future,” Jeff Immelt, GE Chairman and CEO, said in a statement earlier this year. “GE is a fast-growth, high-tech industrial company, built on the capabilities of the GE Store ... our best days are ahead.”
As The Wall Street Journal wrote in June, GE does have a separate healthcare unit it will be keeping, which is a division of the company’s equipment finance business. That particular unit finances the purchase of imaging equipment by various clinics and hospitals.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.