GE sells some finance units to Wells Fargo

NEW YORK -- General Electric (GE) is selling three of its corporate lending and leasing units to Wells Fargo (WFC) as the industrial conglomerate continues to shed its financial units to focus on its core businesses.

The companies did not disclose the purchase price, but both said the businesses being purchased have about $32 billion in loans and leases. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

The three businesses are a part of GE Capital, the financial unit that GE said earlier this year that it would sell in pieces to focus on its industrial roots. The businesses, commercial distribution finance, North American vendor finance and corporate finance, give loans to manufacturers, dealers or other companies. The three businesses have about 3,000 employees.

Shares of General Electric Co., based in Fairfield, Connecticut, rose 5 cents to $28.14 in morning trading Tuesday. Shares of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. slipped 31 cents to $51.87.