GE Capital, a provider of SME financing, has signed an agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to acquire 100% of RBS Factor, RBS’ factoring business in France, for an undisclosed amount.

The move follows an agreement entered into with RBS earlier this year to acquire the bank’s factoring business in Germany, subject to regulatory approval.

The acquisition, together with the acquisition of RBS’ German factoring platform, is expected to increase GE Capital’s total European factoring volume by more than $8bn.

Rich Laxer, president and CEO of GE Capital EMEA, said: “The acquisition of RBS Factor France makes great strategic sense for GE Capital and, together with our acquisition of RBS’ German factoring business, reinforces our position as a leading independent provider of accounts receivable financing solutions in France and across Europe.”

Thierry Willieme, CEO of GE Capital in France, said: “We are committed to providing financial support to French SMEs in these difficult economic times and are very pleased to be able to extend our unparalleled service and unwavering commitment to RBS Factor’s French customers. We provided finance to more than 120,000 French companies last year. We dealt with over 12 million invoices in 2009 and provided more than EUR33bn of working capital to French SMEs.”

RBS is 83% government-owned after receiving lifelines in 2008 and 2009 that included GBP46bn in capital injections. RBS chalked out a plan last year to part with assets it deemed non-core, including the European factoring business.