vielleicht der nächste zock!

...He's also avoided questions in recent interviews about reports that Berkshire made a bid to buy parts of CIT Group. ...

http://www.examiner.com/...009m7d27-Warren-Buffetts-interview-cliches

TAMPA - CIT Group isn't as well-known as Bank of America, but the lender's fight for survival could mean just as much to thousands of Florida businesses.

CIT has loaned money to roughly 44,000 small and midsize businesses in Florida, a company spokesman said. In recent years, for example, CIT had become the leading source of startup money for Beef O'Brady's franchisees, said Nick Vojnovic, chief operating officer of Beef O'Brady's parent Family Sports Concepts.

Up to 40 Beef O'Brady's franchisees got loans from CIT, but since the October credit crisis the lender has virtually stopped making new loans, Vojnovic said.

CIT Group, which has been pushing hard for a federal government bailout, estimates it has 1 million small and midsize business customers. The company has arranged a $3 billion emergency loan from its bondholders, but it still warns that it could have to file for bankruptcy.

Here's a summary of how a CIT failure could hurt local businesses:

•SBA loans. Historically, CIT has been among the top five financial institutions issuing federal SBA loans in the Bay area. Under the SBA program, a lender provides money to a small business and the federal government guarantees up to 85 percent of the loan amount.

From 2006 to 2008, the company made between 33 and 45 SBA loans a year in the Bay area, making it a leading lender under the SBA program. But that's down to just one since October, said Jim Parrish, a counselor at the University of South Florida's Small Business Development Center.

•Revolving loans. Unlike borrowers with one-time SBA loans, businesses that depend on CIT for a continuing source of credit may have more to worry about, said Bryan Crino, president of investment banking firm Skyway Capital Partners.

"If they would shut down a revolving loan, that could theoretically put a company out of business," Crino said.

•Factoring loans. CIT is a leader in issuing higher-interest factoring loans to small businesses, said Brian Smith of LCG Capital. Essentially, a factoring company loans money to a business up front, and in exchange receives the business' accounts receivable, or its future cash flows.

Losing CIT would be a blow, Smith said, both directly and through the money CIT provides to other factoring companies.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jul/28/...nesses-at-risk/news-money/

By Pierre Paulden

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- CIT Group Inc.’s best option is to restructure its debt through a prepackaged bankruptcy, according to CreditSights Inc.

The 101-year-old commercial lender seeking to avoid collapse could exit a prepackaged bankruptcy, in which bondholders approve a reorganization plan before a company files, within two months, New York-based CreditSights analysts Adam Steer and David Hendler wrote yesterday in a research note.

CIT is trying to ease a cash crunch and gain time to devise a plan to avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Peek, 62, got $3 billion from bondholders as he waits to see whether owners of $1 billion in notes due next month will agree to take a loss through a debt tender. If the offer succeeds, New York-based CIT may start debt-for-equity exchanges, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“Even if the tender succeeds, we believe CIT remains at risk for filing for bankruptcy because its business model is broken,” Steer and Hendler said. “Attempting a prepackaged bankruptcy may be CIT’s most viable alternative at this point.”

If the offer fails to get 90 percent participation, the terms of the rescue financing that CIT received from bondholders don’t allow the funds to be used to repay the debt and the company may have to file for bankruptcy, according to the filing.

Investors tendering their $1 billion of floating-rate notes by July 31 will get $775 plus a $50 early delivery payment for every $1,000 of securities they own, the company said in a July 24 regulatory filing. Those who tender their bonds after July 31 will get $775 per $1,000, down from a previous offer of $800, the company said in the filing. The offer expires Aug. 14.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pierre Paulden in New York at ppaulden@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPuUNhvW1wXU

bis 31.07. sollte bekannt werden ob die Bondholder CITs Angebot akzeptiert haben. Tun sie das nicht kommt wohl Chapter 11, tun sie das gehts weiter -> Restrukturierung...

Also überspitzt gesagt am Freitag gehts entweder unter 0,10 oder über 1,50....