Abbey National Will Sell Unit to GE

Abbey National said it agreed to sell its First National consumer-lending business to General Electric's(GE Quote) GE Consumer Finance for 848 million pounds ($1.39 billion) in cash.

Abbey National said the sale is part of its move to focus on personal financial services in the U.K.

The sale doesn't include First National's litigation-funding and motor-finance businesses.

First National is a U.K. provider of secured and unsecured lending to consumers through intermediaries.

Shares of Abbey National were down 0.5% at $25.87, while GE shares were down 2.9% at $22.97.