Wells Fargo to Sell $4.4 Billion Rail Equipment Leasing Business

Wells Fargo & Company WFC entered into a definitive agreement to divest its rail equipment leasing business to a newly formed joint venture between GATX Corporation and Brookfield Infrastructure. The deal is set to close by the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Details of the WFC’s Sell Agreement

The divestiture will include the company’s entire portfolio of rail operating lease assets, valued at approximately $4.4 billion, and its rail finance lease portfolio. The sale is not anticipated to have a material impact on Wells Fargo’s financial position or earnings.

David Marks, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Commercial Banking, stated that "This transaction is consistent with Wells Fargo’s ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients."

WFC’s Efforts to Focus on Core Business & Enhance Efficiency

Wells Fargo continues to strengthen its core financial operations while optimizing its portfolio. As part of its strategic repositioning, the company divested its non-Agency third-party Commercial Mortgage Servicing business to Trimont in March 2025. The move supported WFC to reinforce its focus on lending, advisory, and capital markets capabilities.

Further, the company has been making efforts to achieve cost efficiency. The company is actively engaged in cost-cutting measures, including streamlining organizational structure, branch closures, and headcount reductions. Driven by efficiency initiatives, management expects $2.4 billion of gross expense reductions in 2025.

WFC’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Over the past year, shares of WFC have gained 26% compared with 27.1% growth recorded by the industry.

Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Similar Steps Taken by Other Banks

Last month, Citigroup Inc. C, through its subsidiary Citibank Europe Plc, announced that Citi Handlowy has announced an agreement to sell its consumer banking business in Poland to VeloBank S.A (Velobank). This transaction aligns with Citigroup’s broader strategy to exit consumer banking and strengthen its focus on core operations.

The agreement of C involves the demerger of Citi Handlowy’s consumer banking operations, including wealth management, micro business banking, credit cards, consumer loans, deposits, and assets under management, consumer clients of the brokerage business, branches, and other consumer-related assets to VeloBank. Notably, employees and branches of consumer business will also transition to VeloBank S.A. upon completion of the transaction.

The same month, UBS Group AG’s UBS subsidiary, UBS Asset Management (Americas) LLC, announced a definitive agreement to sell O’Connor, its hedge fund, private credit, and commodities business, to Cantor Fitzgerald as part of its ongoing strategy to streamline operations.

The initial close of the transaction between UBS and O’Connor is expected during the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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