Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Tue, January 13, 2009Mon, January 12, 2009Sun, January 11, 2009Fri, January 9, 2009Thu, January 8, 2009Wed, January 7, 2009Tue, January 6, 2009Mon, January 5, 2009Fri, January 2, 2009Wed, December 31, 2008Tue, December 30, 2008GE Capital completes acquisition of Interbanca S.p.A.
Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, January 8th 2009 at 3:58 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-08 03:59:27 by Market Wire
MILAN, Italy--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--GE Capital, the financing unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE), has completed the acquisition of Interbanca S.p.A., a leading Italian corporate bank, from Banco Santander. The new Board of the bank has appointed Paolo Braghieri as the CEO.
Within the transaction, GE Capital also completed the sale of former GE Money businesses in Germany, Austria, Finland, its credit card and auto businesses in the UK, and its credit card business in Ireland to Santander.
Interbanca, headquartered in Milan, is a well-established corporate finance bank traditionally on the side of the national entrepreneurial system since almost 50 years. With around €6 billion in assets, over 300 employees, 11 branches throughout Italy, it offers a broad range of financial solutions to around 3,000 clients, from corporate lending, to merchant banking and leveraged finance services, focusing principally on SMEs.
"The acquisition of Interbanca is a major step in our European financial services development strategy. Given its experience, Interbanca is for GE a privileged growth platform in a very important European financial market. We intend to support the bank's further development and will give corporations in Italy the opportunity to benefit from GE's customer focus, along with an extended product offering," said Richard Laxer, President and CEO of GE Capital, EMEA.
Paolo Braghieri, newly appointed CEO of Interbanca, added: "This is a very exciting moment for all of us. The deal has a double value: on one hand, Interbanca becomes the growth engine for GE's financial services operations in Italy; on the other one, we will be able to extend our offer internationally by utilizing GE's operations in more than 100 countries, leveraging on the AAA rating of GE, particularly valuable in these difficult economic times, and making use of the consolidated experience of GE with clients in Italy. I would like to thank the outgoing Board and President of Interbanca for supporting this acquisition."
The deal represents the second largest acquisition made by GE in Italy after Nuovo Pignone. "We have been very successful in expanding our industrial businesses in Italy: Nuovo Pignone, now GE Oil&Gas, has become GE's centre of manufacturing for products and services related to the petroleum industry (a sector in which GE is a world leader), as well as GE's centre for senior executive management training. We are confident that Interbanca will become a successful financial pole for GE in Italy," said Giuseppe Recchi, President of GE South East Europe.
About GE Capital
GE Capital is the global finance unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE) -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at [ www.ge.com ].
