ABB, the Swiss engineering group, has sold the majority of its structured finance business to GE Commercial Finance, part of US financial services firm GE Capital, for $2.3bn (€2.3bn).

ABB, which has been plagued by concerns over its short-term liquidity this year, said it would use the proceeds from the sale to trim its debt, which stood at $5.2bn at the end of June. The sale will enable ABB to cover more than half of its $4bn in debt falling due in the next year, including a bank loan, bonds and commercial paper borrowings worth $1.2bn in the fourth quarter of 2002.