General Electric to Sell Italian Lending, Fleet Business

General Electric Co. has picked Deutsche Bank to sell Italian lender GE Capital Interbanca as part of a strategic review to refocus the U.S. conglomerate around its industrial base, two sources familiar with the matter said, according to a Reuters report.

Milan-based GE Capital Interbanca specializes in lending and financing transactions for medium-sized Italian firms. It employs around 600 people and has a book value in excess of 1 billion euros ($1 billion), the source said, without saying how much it might fetch, according to the report.

Interbanca operates two subsidiaries, namely GE Capital Finance, active in accounts receivable financing, and GE Capital Servizi Finanziari, providing equipment lease and fleet services.

Deutsche Bank could conduct a piecemeal sale and offload Interbanca's units such as lending, factoring, leasing and fleet as standalone businesses as a way to maximise value, one of the sources said, according to the report.

It could also combine some of the assets with their European equivalents and favor a "bundle" deal provided there is enough appetite from prospective bidders, he said, according to the report.