General Electric Co. plans to exit the bulk of its lending business, including a $26.5 billion sale of most of its real estate, as Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt refocuses the company on its industrial roots.

In the broadest restructuring since the GE Capital unit destabilized GE during the 2008-09 financial crisis, the company said it will keep only those operations that support its manufacturing arms and dispose of its middle-market lending business and all consumer platforms.

The shares surged 6.8 percent to $27.48 at 7:31 a.m. in New York before regular trading as GE authorized a stock buyback of as much as $50 billion. GE said it would take after-tax charges of about $16 billion in 2015's first quarter, with about $12 billion of that to be non-cash.

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