Barfuss heads GE Frankfurt office

Michael Barfuss is setting up a Frankfurt-based leveraged finance business for GE Commercial Finance, the business-to-business financing unit of GE.

“We believe Germany offers excellent growth potential specifically in the mid-cap market,” said Rich Laxer, president and CEO of GE Commercial Finance’s European corporate lending business.

Barfuss joins GE from the Bank of Scotland, where he was co-head of its German operations.

His responsibilities included the generation and execution of new acquisition finance business, management of the loan portfolio and regulatory, accounting and compliance affairs.

“The German LBO debt market has been exploding recently and has attracted commitments of close to €25bn,” Barfuss said. “We will be putting a strong team in place over the next few months to drive GE Commercial Finance’s expansion in this key market.”