CIT Group CFO Retires, 4 New Directors Named

Associated Press
December 22, 2009

CIT Group Inc. on Tuesday said its chief financial officer is retiring, and noted that it is closer to filling out its new board.

The commercial lender, which emerged from bankruptcy protection on Dec. 10, said CFO Joseph Leone will retire April 30. A replacement has not yet been named.

Mr. Leone, 56, has been with the company for 25 years. He took over as finance chief in 1995 after serving as executive vice president of one of CIT's units.

CIT will also need to name a new chief executive soon, as Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Peek is due to retire at the end of the year.

CIT also named four new members to its board, moving closer to the goal identified in a regulatory filing Friday of having a new 13-member board.

The new board members are: Michael Embler, 45, formerly chief investment officer of Franklin Mutual Advisers; Arthur Newman, 66, a senior managing director of Blackstone Group LP; Daniel Ninivaggi, 45, of counsel to the law firm of Winston & Strawn LLP; and R. Brad Oates, 56, chairman and managing partner of Stone Advisors LP.

These additions bring the board to 11 directors, plus Mr. Peek. The new board will include the new CEO, five members from the old board and seven independent directors nominated by CIT's debtholders. The new board will select a successor to Mr. Peek, who in mid-October announced his retirement.

CIT, one of the nation's largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, was forced into bankruptcy after failing to raise cash to pay off outstanding debt. CIT was also hammered by mounting loan losses as more customers fell behind on repaying loans during the recession. It moved through bankruptcy in just six weeks because its key bondholders had already approved a plan to reorganize the company.

Shares of CIT added 31 cents to $28.54 in morning trading.

Billionaire Icahn Reports Holding 6.1% Stake in New CIT Shares

Bloomberg
December 21, 2009

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who battled with CIT Group Inc.’s management before agreeing to support a prepackaged bankruptcy, reported holding a stake equal to almost 6.1 percent of shares outstanding.

Icahn, who said he was CIT’s largest bondholder before its bankruptcy, reported a stake of 12.1 million shares in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. New York-based CIT exited bankruptcy this month and its new stock began trading Dec. 10, less than two months after filing to reorganize.

Bankruptcy helped the company trim more than $10 billion in debt and extend bond maturities for three years. Icahn had made a competing offer, then supported CIT’s prepackaged bankruptcy after the lender agreed to corporate-governance changes. CIT collapsed amid losses tied to subprime lending and was unable to gain funding from the commercial-paper market.

CIT shares rose 73 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $28.23 today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. CIT spokesman Curt Ritter wasn’t immediately able to confirm if Icahn was the largest shareholder.