GE Prepares to Sell $30 Billion in Loan Debt to Wells Fargo

As part of a comprehensive divestment strategy announced in April, General Electric is reportedly in negotiations to sell off some $30 billion worth of financial assets to Well Fargo & Co. The portfolio is comprised of direct financing loans, as well as vendor and distributor financing, all parts of GE’s various lending programs.

The electronics producer announced earlier this year that it would attempt to liquidate $100 billion worth of financial assets before the end of 2015, with a total divestment of about $200 billion over a longer period of time. If the proposed sale to Wells Fargo goes through as planned, the company will have beaten its 2015 divestment goal by over $20 billion. The plan to relieve the company of many of its loan portfolios is part of a general shift in focus back to manufacturing, where the company got its start.

A source that requested to remain anonymous informed Reuters of the potential debt selloff on Saturday. According to the source, an official deal may be announced as early as Wednesday of this week, when Wells Fargo is set to release its third quarter earnings data. The source also said, however, that the negotiations were ongoing, and that no definitive agreement had been reached. The purchase of the financing portfolio would not be the first instance of Wells Fargo purchasing assets from GE. The financial firm recently acquired GE’s railcar leasing business for a sum that was not made public. A much smaller portfolio of commercial real estate loans valued at about $9 billion was also purchased from General Electric earlier this year.