GE cards disposal likely to be structured deal

BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) still aims to divest its U.S. private-label credit-card business by the year-end but is more likely to do so through a structured deal, perhaps with a sovereign wealth or private-equity fund, than as a straight asset sale, the company's chief financial officer said on Friday.

"We're still trying to get something done before the end of the year," Keith Sherin said in an interview. "What that something is probably changing."

Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE last year said it was interested in selling its $30 billion private-label card operation, but it has had a hard time finding a buyer amid a severe global credit crunch.

"It's probably going to be more of a structured sale, is what we anticipate today, based on the size of the asset and how challenging the capital markets are," Sherin said. "We'll probably do something that is more an exit over time."

(Reporting by Scott Malone; editing by John Wallace)