GE to shed finance assets, focus on industrial business

GE announced Wednesday it will sell its jet-leasing business to AerCap and use the proceeds to help pay off about $30 billion in debt.

General Electric announced Wednesday it will sell its jet-leasing business to rival AerCap and absorb GE Capital into its balance sheet as CEO Larry Culp continues to look to simplify operations and focus the company on its core industrial business.

GE Capital Aviation Services, or Gecas, is the largest asset of the company’s finance arm, GE Capital, which took on huge losses during the financial crisis. The company has been slimming down Capital since then and Culp, who was appointed CEO in 2018, has sought to accelerate GE’s exit from finance.

The company said it will fold GE Capital into the corporate parent instead of reporting it as a standalone captive business. GE will use the approximately $24 billion in cash from the sale to pay down debts that have overshadowed the conglomerate’s industrial businesses since the 2008 crisis, it was announced.