GE Consumer Finance to Acquire Credit Card Business of Belk, Inc.

Furthering its growth strategy, GE Consumer Finance, the consumer lending unit of General Electric Company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase and manage the private label credit card assets of Belk, Inc., the nation’s largest privately owned department store company. Belk operates 278 stores in 15 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states under the names Belk, McRae’s and Proffitt’s.

GE Consumer Finance will acquire approximately $300 million in private label credit card receivables from Belk and $200 million from a third-party provider. Belk and GE Consumer Finance agreed to a 10-year alliance in which GE will provide credit marketing and analytic support, credit servicing and customer care for Belk’s 4.2 million retail cardholders.

The acquisition also includes approximately 160 Belk employees who will join GE Consumer Finance and will remain in Belk’s hometown of Charlotte, NC. The acquisition is expected to close in the next few months, subject to regulatory approval.

“We’re excited about working with Belk, a strong retail partner with a proud family heritage,” said Mark W. Begor, president and CEO, GE Consumer Finance-Americas. “This new partnership opens up great opportunities to offer enhanced products, benefits and value to Belk’s customers while helping drive both Belk’s and GE’s growth.”

“Our new alliance with GE will provide Belk shoppers even better financing options with the same customer-friendly service that Belk is known for,” said Tim Belk, chairman and CEO of Belk, Inc. “We are particularly excited about the marketing expertise that GE will make available to us, and we look forward to a long-term mutually beneficial partnership.”