Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K. bank that generates most of its earnings in Asia, agreed to buy Singapore’s GE Money to bolster its consumer lending operations in the city-state.

The transaction is likely to be completed this quarter, London-based Standard Chartered said in an e-mailed statement today. Ashia Razzaq, the bank’s head of investor relations for Asia, and Lisa Farrugia, a spokeswoman for GE Capital in Southeast Asia, declined to provide the financial terms. The bank paid $850 million to $900 million for the asset, Dow Jones reported, citing a person it didn’t name.

“GE Money is one of the largest independent auto and personal loan specialists in Singapore,” Razzaq said by telephone from Hong Kong. “It’s expanding our product capabilities in auto finance, it will boost our market positioning in personal loans.”

 

Gross assets of the business being acquired were $2.35 billion as of Dec. 31, 2009, the bank said. GE Money Singapore is a wholly owned unit of GE Capital.

 

On Jan. 21, Standard Chartered opened its new Singapore headquarters. The island is the third-largest contributor to the company’s income, according to a statement last week.

 

Standard Chartered will add 4,000 employees to the more than 20,000 staff it has to Southeast Asia, Ray Ferguson, the bank’s chief executive officer for Singapore and Southeast Asia, said in November.