NEW YORK (The Deal) -- Alternative asset manager Värde Partners, buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) - Get Report and Deutsche Bank (DB) - Get Report have agreed to buy GE Capital's Australian and New Zealand consumer lending business for an enterprise value of A$8.2billion ($6.3 billion), the companies said on Sunday.

The sale continues a post-credit crisis retrenchment at GE Capital to focus on specialty finance and follows the IPO last July of its Synchrony Financial U.S. retail banking operation. Following the listing, General Electric (GE) - Get Report retained 84.6% of that business, which used to be called GE Capital Retail Bank, and plans to complete its exit from Synchrony by the end of the year via a spinoff of its remaining stake. GE in November closed the €700 million  ($736.9 million) sale of its Nordic consumer finance businessGE Money Bank to Banco Santander.

The Australian and New Zealand business changing hands has more than 3 million customers and operates store cards for major retailers in the region. The companies gave no financial information about the business in their short statement.  A consortium spokesman declined to elaborate on the limited information released.

GE Capital Australia and New Zealand CEO Duncan Berry said his slimmed-down business will continue to expand its commercial finance operation and plans to build its mid-market lending portfolio and leasing businesses.

GE Capital's consumer business includes bank cards; store cards; personal, car and mortgage loans; savings products; debt consolidation; and lending to  small and medium-sized enterprises. It accounted for just under a third of GE Capital's assets in the fourth quarter, and more than half of its $1.9 billion of profit.

KKR Asia Joseph Y. Bae, Värde Partners' founding partner and co-CEO George Hicks and lead Asia Pacific partner Ali Haroon, and Deutsche Bank Australia and New Zealand chief executive James McMurdo oversaw the transaction at the buying consortium.

Their advice came from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Moelis and Citigroup.

Credit Suisse's John Knox and Mark Burrows, and Morgan Stanley advised GE.

Read more from: