Over the past two weeks, we’ve been busy here at GE. Our senior leadership team has been “on the road” participating in virtual investor conferences and meetings. In case you missed it, Larry presented in a fireside chat at Bernstein’s 37th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference. He provided perspective on how GE’s transformation to a more focused, simpler and stronger high-tech industrial company is accelerating, offering insight from our quarterly operating reviews within each business. We also shared that the U.S. Department of Justice concluded its review of the GECAS and AerCap combination. Additionally, Carolina attended the UBS Global Industrials & Transportation Conference and the Wolfe Global Transportation & Industrials Conference, and GE Healthcare CEO Kieran Murphy participated in the Goldman Sachs Healthcare Conference.
As we continue to strengthen GE for the future, we’ve acted opportunistically to advance our deleveraging plan. On June 8, we announced the results of our most recent debt tender, using cash on hand to repurchase $7 billion of debt, an upsize from our original expectations. Since the end of 2018, we’ve reduced gross debt by approximately $50 billion as part of our effort towards achieving our leverage target of less than 2.5x net debt to EBITDA.
At the same time, we’re shifting more towards offense. We’re focused on organic growth first, complemented by inorganic investments to support our businesses. On June 9, we announced that Prolec GE, a 50/50 joint venture between GE and Xignux, plans to acquire SPX’s Transformer Solutions business for $645 million. The acquisition will enhance Prolec GE’s position as a key power and distribution transformers player providing customers with a wider choice of products and an enhanced next-generation portfolio in the Americas. We expect the transaction to close by the end of 2021.
Finally, I’ll leave you with some words from Larry at the Bernstein conference last week… “I can be excited about the momentum I saw across the businesses here over the last five weeks, but we know there’s a lot more to do... Over time, I think we are going to create a lot of value, and have that resonate both with customers and with investors.”
Thank you for your continued interest in GE.