LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today it has completed the purchase of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) segment of GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) business. The acquisition includes CDF assets, nine offices and 163 team members in markets across Europe, including Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the U.K.

“EMEA is an important region for our CDF business and customers,” said Maurice Benisty, CEO, CDF International. “This has been a seamless integration and we continue to provide our customers with excellent service and support. We’re excited to become part of Wells Fargo and, over time, offer our customers a broader selection of financial products and services as we help them become even more financially successful in the future.”

As previously announced, Wells Fargo agreed to purchase GE Capital’s CDF, Vendor Finance and a portion of its Corporate Finance businesses. This was in addition to large components of GE Capital’s rail platforms and commercial real estate businesses. In March 2016, Wells Fargo announced it completed the purchase of the North American businesses. Following the closing of the Asia, Australia and New Zealand portfolios closing earlier this year, EMEA is the final international segment for CDF to close and marks the completion of the total acquisition.

“The completion of the GE Capital acquisition is extremely positive for Wells Fargo, our team members and shareholders. I’m proud of the hard work that continues to be done by everyone involved to help complete the transition as smoothly as possible,” said Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo president and COO. “GE Capital’s businesses are industry leaders that are supported by exceptionally talented and experienced teams. We’re thrilled to welcome the new EMEA team members, who now join colleagues in North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, to the stagecoach as we continue to strengthen our capabilities and customer relationships.”

Wells Fargo currently has 1,100 Wholesale banking team members in EMEA to serve its corporate, commercial and financial institution customers doing business across the region. Wells Fargo currently operates 10 lines of business throughout EMEA, including global financial institutions, global banking, securities, commercial real estate and asset management.

About Commercial Distribution Finance

In 2015, GE’s Commercial Distribution Finance business provided $47 billion in financing for more than 40,000 dealers and more than 2,000 distributors and manufacturers globally. Now a part of Wells Fargo, CDF provides inventory financing solutions, service and intelligence through in-depth industry expertise and commitment. Programs include inventory and accounts receivable financing, asset-based lending, private label financing, collateral management, and related financial products. Wells Fargo acquired the North American business of CDF from GE Capital on March 1, 2016, the Asia portion of CDF on July 1, 2016, and the Australia and New Zealand business of CDF on August 1, 2016. For more information, visit wellsfargo.com/cdf or follow company news via Twitter @wellsfargocdf.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.8 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,800 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 269,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.

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This news release contains forward-looking statements about our future financial performance and business. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at www.sec.gov.

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