The Wall Street Journal reported General Electric is putting its $5 billion Japanese commercial finance operation up for sale, shedding a key piece of its unit GE Capital’s Asia operations as part of the company’s efforts to slim down, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Journal said the sale, which is still in the early stages, comes after GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt laid out plans last month to sell or spin off the bulk of the $500 billion in assets held by its GE Capital unit, as well as GE’s multibillion-dollar disposal in March of its consumer lending business in Australia and New Zealand to an investor group that included KKR &Co.

According to the Journal the sale in Japan of the business that finances the purchase of equipment is part of an effort to win over investors who have pushed GE to slim down after regulatory issues reduced the attractiveness of returns generated by GE’s finance operations.

To read the entire Journal article, click here.