TOKYO (AP) — U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. is selling its Japan commercial lending business to Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing for about $4.8 billion.
The deal, announced Tuesday and to be concluded by April next year, marks the withdrawal of GE Capital from Japan, except for a minor joint venture, according Akihiro Yoshinobu, spokesman for GE Capital in Tokyo.
General Electric, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, has been focusing on industrial businesses, based on making large complicated equipment for other companies, and shrinking its other businesses that focus on finance.
The largest change involves selling most of GE Capital's assets, including $26.5 billion in real estate assets.
Sumitomo Mitsui, one of Japan's biggest leasing companies, has been expanding abroad, including China, Southeast Asia and the U.S.