PARIS, 19th May, 2010: GE Capital, one of Europe's leading providers of SME financing, has signed an agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) to acquire 100% of RBS Factor S.A., RBS' factoring business in France, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The move follows an agreement entered into with RBS earlier this year to acquire the bank's factoring business in Germany, subject to regulatory approval.
RBS Factor is a top 10 provider of accounts receivable finance in France by financing volume. It processes more than three million invoices a year and will add approximately €4bn ($5bn) of volume to GE Capital's French factoring platform. This acquisition, together with the acquisition of RBS' German factoring platform, will increase GE Capital's total European factoring volume by more than €6bn ($8bn).
GE Capital is one of the leading providers of accounts receivable finance in Europe, lending more than €250 million to small and medium sized European businesses every day and financing more than 350,000 companies every year in Europe alone. Since 2004, GE Capital has provided more that €350bn ($500 billion) of working capital to small and medium sized businesses across the region.
"The acquisition of RBS Factor France makes great strategic sense for GE Capital and, together with our acquisition of RBS' German factoring business, reinforces our position as a leading independent provider of accounts receivable financing solutions in France and across Europe," said Rich Laxer, President and CEO of GE Capital EMEA.
"We are committed to providing financial support to French SMEs in these difficult economic times and are very pleased to be able to extend our unparalleled service and unwavering commitment to RBS Factor's French customers," said Thierry Willième, CEO of GE Capital in France. "We provided finance to more than 120,000 French companies last year. We dealt with over 12 million invoices in 2009 and provided more than €34 billion of working capital to French SMEs."
GE Capital is one of the Europe's leading financial institutions - providing secured finance facilities to support small and mid-market customers throughout the EMEA region. GE Capital provides customers with a range of services, including asset-based lending, inventory finance, leasing, fleet services and corporate lending.
Michael Goodbody
GE Capital EMEA
[email protected]
+44-207-302-6269
+44-7899-808-239