General Electric has reached an agreement to sell GE Capital’s Franchise Finance U.S. hotel business to Western Alliance Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation. The sale includes approximately $1.4 billion in ending net investment and the majority of the hotel business employees. The company provides real estate financing to owners of limited service hotel properties. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016. Barclays provided financial advice to GE during the transaction.
“We’re pleased to sell the U.S. hotel portion of our Franchise Finance business to Western Alliance, a fast growing bank that is committed to the business, customers and employees,” said Keith Sherin, GE Capital chairman and CEO. “Combined with the sale of our Canadian Franchise business, this represents a significant portion of Franchise Finance, our last North American business to be sold as part of our plan to significantly reduce the size of GE Capital,” he added.
