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In December 2007 GE also divested its consumer-linked finance divisions in its GE Money unit.

For its part, Wizard has been hurt by higher funding costs and the US sub-prime crisis and slower Australian mortgage growth.
The report notes that the franchise model used at Wizard branches sets it apart from the rest of GE, so the unit may work better under a different owner. Wizard has some 50 branches and loans totalling $12 billion.

Bloomberg says that Mark Bouris, Wizard's founder and chairman, "may attempt to buy back the company'.

Since 2001 GE has sold its business units with annual sales of about $50 billion and is exiting underperforming businesses to return to the company's long-term goal of 10 per cent annual profit increases, the report noted.