Best of Breed JV's fuels GE Money's Growth
MALAGA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Money, the global consumer lending division of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), and Unicaja, Andalusia's leading financial institution, today signed a strategic alliance to create a joint venture in Spain. The newly created organisation will be a major consumer finance specialist in the Spanish market and the first consumer finance joint venture established in Andalusia. It will offer personal loans and credit cards which will be sold through Unicaja's distribution channels.
The new company will combine Unicaja's strong sales network, as well as its knowledge and leadership in the financial market, specifically in Andalusia, with GE Money's global expertise in consumer lending. Unicaja is the premier financial institution in Andalusia, with a network of 870 branches, more than 2.1 million clients and operations in 15 Spanish provinces, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as London. GE Money has 130 million customers in 54 countries for which it develops and distributes a wide range of consumer finance services.
The Joint Venture continues GE Money's strategy of building its business presence in Spain through strategic alliances. The agreement with Unicaja is the third joint venture created by GE Money with a Caja (regional savings bank) in Spain. GE Money formed the first joint venture with CAM in 2005 and the second with BBK in 2006.
With Unicaja and GE Money holding 50% each, the joint venture will have a share capital of €25 million and a loan portfolio of €200 million and some 500,000 credit cards from Unicaja's current credit card business. Unicaja will take on the operating management of the new company, which will be headquartered in Málaga. Operations are expected to begin in early 2008.
Commenting on the agreement William H Cary, President and CEO of GE Money EMEA said; "This Joint Venture further enhances our presence in the Spanish market. Our growth strategy of partnering with best of breed partners in this and other markets is a key pillar in our organic growth strategy for the EMEA region."
GE Money formed a partnership with the Dogus Group in Turkey, when they acquired 25.5% of Garanti Bank from the Group in late 2005. Together they hold a 51% stake in what is Turkey's 3rd largest private Bank. Earlier this year GE Money also announced that it would expand its presence into the Middle East region through a JV with the Al Futtaim Group in UAE.
At a press conference held today, Braulio Medel, Chairman of Unicaja, explained: "The foundation of this joint venture confirms our strong commitment to the consumer finance market, which we consider as a strategic business offering significant potential, a means for us to grow and diversify our product range and to provide our customers with flexible and competitive solutions. We want to be the consumer finance institution of choice for the Andalusian market".
At the signing event, Mario Armero, Chairman of General Electric for Spain and Portugal, commented: "This agreement marks a boost for GE Money in the consumer lending market in Andalusia. This region is a clear strategic market for our company so we are very pleased to have partnered with a leading player such as Unicaja. This partnership builds on our strategy in the Spanish market of growing our business through a series of joint ventures with 'best of breed' players in key regions. It is also further proof of GE and GE Money's commitment to the Spanish market, where the financial division has identifx a significant growth potential".
Notes to editors
About GE Money
GE Consumer Finance (GE Money), a unit of General Electric Company, with $190 billion in assets, is a leading provider of credit services to consumers, retailers and auto dealers in 54 countries around the world. GE Consumer Finance, based in Stamford, Conn., offers a range of financial products globally, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home equity loans and credit insurance. More information can be found online at www.geconsumerfinance.com.
GE Money first established a presence in EMEA in 1992. Today GE Money operates in 25 countries in the region and employs over 24,000 employees. GE Money EMEA has assets of $88.7 billion (2006) and NI of $1.6 billion. The region accounts for approximately 45% of the total global assets of GE Money.
GE Money in Spain offers a broad range of financial solutions for individuals: car loans, personal loans, mortgages and insurance. It has 600 employees and €2,300 million in assets.
About Unicaja
Unicaja is the premier financial institution in Andalusia and one of Spain's leading savings banks with the most important privately-funded Social Work in Andalusia. Unicaja has a network of over 870 branches in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, Valencia, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a representation office in London. The total number of employees (parent company) is 4,648.
Unicaja has a solid financial position, as demonstrated by its strong solvency, profitability and efficiency ratios and the ratings awarded by the leading international rating agencies -- the highest awarded to an Andalusia-based financial institution. With a consolidated net profit of €304.6 million in 2006, Unicaja maintains the growth path shown in previous years' results. In fact, 2006 has been the sixteenth consecutive year in which profit saw double-digit growth (21.1%). Unicaja has a business volume of €50,000 million, assets under management of almost €30,000 million and a consolidated net equity of €3,000 million.
Unicaja's Social Work has been funded with €58.2 million in 2007 and carries out over 3,800 actions annually with almost 4.8 million beneficiaries and 174 activity centres. For further information, please visit www.unicaja.es.
About General Electric
General Electric is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com.
Contacts GE Money
Hugh Gillanders, +353 1 4052721
VP -- Communications GE Money EMEA
Mobile: +353 87 2901511
or
Unicaja
Dirección de Comunicación e Imagen de Unicaja
Tel: +34 952 13 80 91/ 13 81 02/ 13 80 00
Fax: 952 13 80 81/ 13 81 27
[email protected]
www.unicaja.es
or
General Electric
Gabinete de prensa: Grupo Albión, A. de C.
Tel: +34 91 531 23 88 - Fax: +34 91 521 81 87
Alejandra Moore Mayorga - [email protected]
Sofía García Nieto - [email protected]
Lucía Galmán - [email protected]
Cristy Williams
[email protected]
678.518.2596