General Electric has sold its consumer lending arm in Australia and New Zealand to an investment consortium including Germany's Deutsche Bank and U.S. investment firm KKR for $6.3 billion, the company said. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is one of the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year, according to the Wall Street Journal, and is the latest step in the American conglomerate's efforts to scale back its financial division, GE Capital. GE Capital's Australia and New Zealand units were sold for Aus$8.2 billion to the consortium made up of Deutsche Bank, KKR and Varde Partners, the American company said in a statement on Sunday. The lending arm offers personal loans, credit cards and other financial services with more than three million total customers, GE said in the statement. All of the products and services will be retained under the new ownership.
