Beneficial to Sell Western Auto Subsidiary to Wesray Capital

Beneficial Corp. announced Friday that it has signed a letter of intent to sell Western Auto, its merchandising subsidiary, to Wesray Capital.

The sale price will be book value at the date of closing, and Beneficial expects to receive about $300 million in cash. Closing is anticipated during the third quarter.

Western Auto management is expected to participate in the sale, which is subject to a definitive agreement, approval from Beneficial’s board of directors and other conditions.

Wesray, a private investment banking firm headquartered in New York and Morristown, N.J., has indicated that it will operate Western Auto as an independent company and will continue with Western Auto’s expansion program.

“Western Auto is a top-quality company with an excellent management team. It has made great strides in recent years, and we are very excited about its future,” said William E. Simon, Wesray chairman and a former U.S. Treasury secretary.

“Although we remain optimistic about Western Auto’s future, this sale is a further major step in implementing our strategic decision to concentrate our resources on our pre-eminent strength--Beneficial’s highly successful consumer financial-services operations,” said Finn M. W. Caspersen, Beneficial chairman.