Wells Fargo sells $2 billion of private equity investments

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo said on Friday it had sold about $2 billion of its private equity investments as the bank aims to sharpen focus on its core businesses.

Lenders have been looking to improve efficiency and scale back less important bets, to better navigate the uncertainty as the Federal Reserve tries to engineer a soft landing for the U.S. economy.

"With this transaction, we are continuing with our strategic efforts to focus on Wells Fargo's core businesses and customers," Wells Fargo CFO Mike Santomassimo said.

The investments were in certain funds managed by Norwest Equity Partners and Norwest Mezzanine Partners. They were sold to a group of buyers that included private equity firm Carlyle Group's unit AlpInvest Partners, Atalaya Capital Management, Lexington Partners and Pantheon, according to Wells Fargo.

Lazard advised Wells Fargo on the deal.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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