General Electric Co. plans to exit the bulk of its lending business, including a $26.5 billion sale of most of its real estate, as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt refocuses the company on its industrial roots.

In the broadest restructuring since the GE Capital unit destabilized GE during the 2008-09 financial crisis, the company said it will keep only those operations that support its manufacturing arms and dispose of its middle-market lending business and all consumer platforms.

The shares surged 6.8 percent to $27.48 at 7:31 a.m. in New York before regular trading as GE authorized a stock buyback of as much as $50 billion. GE said it would take after-tax charges of about $16 billion in 2015's first quarter, with about $12 billion of that to be non-cash.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical Treasury & Risk information including in-depth analysis of treasury and finance best practices, case studies with corporate innovators, informative newsletters, educational webcasts and videos, and resources from industry leaders.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and Treasury & Risk events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including PropertyCasualty360.com and Law.com.
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.