Hope you didn’t buy any CIT on the hope of a bailout!
Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — CIT Group Inc., a 101-year-old commercial lender, filed for bankruptcy with financing from investor Carl Icahn after the credit crunch dried up its funding and a U.S. bailout failed.
The practical impact of this is likely to be:
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Their factoring business is unlikely to be significantly impacted. This is a very profitable line of work, and while I have often (and still do) argue that any business using it is certifiably insane, it should continue.
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Their “general” lending, however, is almost certain to be severely curtailed. I have seen estimates that it could fall by as much as 90%, and that seems reasonable to me.
For many small businesses the latter could be particularly acute. I would also expect the margins on their factoring business to be adjusted (better for them, worse for retailers) which could put a further squeeze on their small and mid-sized business clientele.
This will leave a mark – we’ll have to see how bad it gets for retailers in the coming weeks and months, but being right in front of the holidays it cannot be a welcome development.
