GE withdraws from the Romanian financial services market, sells to partner Garanti

GE Money, the financial services division of General Electric will sell its participations in the leasing, consumer finance and mortgage business in Romania to Turkish Garanti. The deal will be made through the sale of the 30 percent participation in GE Garanti Bank and of similar share packages in Motoractive, Ralfi and Domenia. “The reason to withdraw from this partnership is connected to GE's global strategy,” said Dmitri Stockton, president of GE Capital Global Banking. GE Money entered Romania in 2005, when it bought share packages in Motoractive, Ralfi and Domenia Credit from the Romanian American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), in a deal worth around EUR 140 million. In 2007, the three companies started to merge with the local subsidiary of Turkish bank Garanti, which was finalized this year. This was based on a partnership in Turkey between GE and Dogus Group, the company which controls Garanti Bank. editor@romania-insider.com