GE Commercial Finance Appoints New Head of European Leveraged Finance

Thomas Greco has been named as the new European Head of GE Commercial Finance’s Leveraged Finance activities. He will oversee strategy and development throughout the region and be responsible for driving growth through its lead arrange and participations business. GE Commercial Finance’s leveraged finance activities have grown significantly in Europe, and continue to expand despite the credit crunch. Since August 07, GE Commercial Finance has been awarded an MLA position in approximately 15% of all new European leveraged deals and purchased around £1 billion assets in the secondary market. Key European transactions include: Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Global Coordinator and bookrunner on $395 million senior and mezzanine facilities for the acquisition of API by 3i EMAP: Joint Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner on £845 million senior and mezzanine facilities for the acquisition of the business to business assets of EMAP by APAX and Guardian Media Group Norma: Global Coordinator, Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner on €421 million senior and mezzanine refinancing facilities and acquisition of Breeze Industrial Products Corp by Norma Group, owned by 3i Firth Rixson: Joint Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner on £450 million senior facilities for the acquisition of Firth Rixson by Oakhill Capital Partners GDT: Mandated Lead Arranger and bookrunner on $215 million senior and second lien facilities for the acquisition of GDT by Bridgepoint "2007 was a great year for GE’s European Leveraged Finance team, winning a raft of lead arranger roles on major transactions in a wide variety of countries and sectors - demonstrating GE’s ability to complete transactions and support sponsors and borrowers during a period of market turmoil. Private equity houses throughout the region value our balance sheet strength, industrial insight and sector expertise, gained through GE’s media, healthcare, energy and industrial businesses, which helps to create bank-friendly structures and enables sponsors to add real value to their portfolios,” explained Thomas Greco. "I look forward to continuing the expansion of the business and working with our customers to share insights and help them win more deals in a challenging environment in 2008 and beyond.” Most recently, Thomas Greco was senior managing director for GE Real Estate in North America and has held several executive positions in a 13-year GE career. Prior to GE, he worked for JP Morgan, NatWest USA and Chemical Bank in a variety of senior banking roles. Greco gained a degree in finance from Albany State University in New York and an MBA from Fordham University. About GE Commercial Finance GE Commercial Finance is the business-to-business finance unit of General Electric. With deep industry expertise and lending, leasing and financing services of every kind, GE Commercial Finance plays a key role in helping its customers grow. Conducting business in 35 countries, GE Commercial Finance has assets of over US$300 billion and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. GE Commercial Finance Corporate Financial Services Europe shares GE’s industrial knowledge and provides capital to customers of all sizes, utilizing GE’s AAA balance sheet. Its leverage finance unit can lead arrange transactions requiring debt from $75 million upwards. General Electric (NYSE:GE) is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems.