GE, Blackstone to buy PHH for 1.69 billion dollars

General Electric Co.'s Capital Solutions unit and private-equity giant Blackstone Group have agreed to acquire PHH Corp. in a deal valued at 1.69 billion dollars, a report carried by The Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

Under the agreement, GE's business-to-business leasing, financing and asset-management arm will pay 31.50 dollars a share for PHH, which operates PHH Mortgage Services, a mostly prime- mortgage business, and PHH Arval, a North American vehicle-fleet- management-services provider.

GE plans to immediately sell to a Blackstone affiliate PHH's mortgage business -- which originates "private-label" mortgages for financial institutions including Merrill Lynch & Co., TD Banknorth Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. -- while retaining PHH Arval, said the report.

Stephen White, a spokesman for GE Capital Solutions, declined to disclose financial details for the sale of PHH's mortgage business.

But he said PHH Arval would bolster GE Capital Solutions' North American vehicle-fleet-management operations by adding strength in strategic consulting and a diverse customer base including several Fortune 500 companies, according to the report.

Source: Xinhua