WASHINGTON, D.C., 10 April 2015 - Hogan Lovells has advised General Electric (GE) in connection with its agreement to sell its global real estate equity and debt portfolio business. The portfolio holds approximately US$26.5 billion worth of investments in commercial mortgage debt, office buildings, and other commercial property worldwide.

A multidisciplinary, cross-border team provided legal counsel on the sale to Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo & Co. The transaction is the largest in the real estate industry since Blackstone acquired Equity Office Properties Trust for US$39 billion in 2007.

This transaction is the first step in GE's plan to exit most of its financial services business to focus on its leading industrial businesses. GE expects under this plan that by 2018, more than 90 percent of GE’s earnings will be generated by its high-return industrial businesses, up from 58 percent in 2014. GE has been a long-time client of the firm.

The Hogan Lovells team advising GE on this matter was led by Corporate partners Warren Gorrell, Bruce Gilchrist, Prentiss Feagles, Lauren Bellerjeau, Waajid Siddiqui, and Lee Berner, with special contributions from associates David Reina and Jan Shanklin, as well as assistance from a global team of more than 70 lawyers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Italy, and Poland.

The GE legal team was led by Mark Landis, Executive Legal Counsel-M&A and a former Hogan Lovells partner.