Canada’s oldest diversified general merchandise retailer, Hudson’s Bay Company, announced that the sale of its financial services operations to GE Money, the Canadian consumer lending unit of General Electric Company, was completed today for approximately $355 million net of securitized receivables and related costs and taxes.

“This transaction, and our ongoing relationship with GE Money, will allow HBC to focus greater attention on customer service and product differentiation, while providing our customers with enhanced access to a broader range of financial services and the continued benefits of the Hbc Rewards program,” said Jerry Zucker, governor and CEO of HBC.

As part of the agreement, HBC and GE Money have entered into a 10-year alliance under which GE Money will provide credit marketing and analytic support, credit servicing and customer care for HBC’s 3.1 million retail cardholders.

In the short-term, HBC expects to realize financial benefits similar to historic financial services earnings. However, the company anticipates additional earnings in the longer term with the introduction of additional products and services.

“This alliance allows us to drive growth at HBC by introducing new products and using GE’s global reach to leverage best practices from around the world,” says Stephen Motta, president and CEO of GE Money.

HBC customers will be able to continue to use their HBC cards and will continue to enjoy access to the HBC rewards program and other cardholder benefits as they do today, as well as a broader range of financial products in the future.

The sale also included the transfer of approximately 610 HBC associates directly involved with HBC’s financial services business to GE Money. GE Money currently has 600 employees at its headquarters in Mississauga, Ont. and its operations centre in Edmonton.