Breaking 11/1 - CIT files for bankruptcy: $71B assets

November 1, 2009, 2:15 pm
Update | 3:46 p.m. Three months ago, the CIT Group barely averted what it considered to be a ruinous bankruptcy filing that would likely have put the 101-year-old lender out of business.

On Sunday afternoon, the company filed for Chapter 11 — but under a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy plan that will enable it to emerge from court protection by the end of the year, under the control of its debtholders. (Read the filing after the jump.)

The filing, made in a Manhattan federal court, will still mean much pain for many parties, beginning with taxpayers. CIT received $2.3 billion in government aid last year, a bailout that came in the form of preferred stock. That will almost certainly be wiped out in the bankruptcy process, the first realized loss in the government’s rescue of the financial system.

While several firms that have received bailout money, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, have repaid the government, others — including the American International Group, General Motors and Chrysler — are expected to lead to losses.

CIT’s filing will test whether a financial company can survive the Chapter 11 process. Bankruptcy has long been considered a death knell for lenders, whose very existence depends on the confidence of its creditors and customers. The company’s struggles have been watched with interest and trepidation by analysts and the thousands of small and mid-sized businesses that borrow from CIT.

CIT was the nation’s largest provide of what is known as factoring, a type of lending used heavily by retailers. The company has spent months trying to reassure its clients that it will remain open for business as stores ramp up for the holiday season. Its travails may be seized upon by its rivals in the sector, including General Electric’s GE Capital unit.

Sunday’s filing caps months of efforts by CIT to stay alive. After being denied another bailout by the federal government, the company bargained with its creditors over a restructuring plan that would keep it operating and cut $10 billion in unsecured debt.

“The decision to proceed with our plan of reorganization will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle market customers, two sectors that remain vitally important to the U.S. economy,” Jeffrey M. Peek, CIT’s outgoing chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “This market-based solution allows CIT to enter into the reorganization process well-prepared and positioned for a swift emergence.”

While CIT had hoped to stay out of bankruptcy court through a bond exchange offer, that plan failed to win enough support from bondholders, the company said in a statement.

With $71 billion in assets and nearly $65 billion in liabilities, CIT is among the largest corporate bankruptcies on record, though it is dwarfed by the likes of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. The company said in its bankruptcy petition that it had $800 million in bonds maturing from Sunday through Tuesday.

More:

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/cit-to-file-for...