The CIT Group's Project Finance Fund Now Fully Invested

Business Wire, Oct 24, 2000

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2000

The CIT Group, Inc (NYSE:CIT, TSE:CIT.U) announced today that its Project Finance Group, a unit of CIT Structured Finance, has fully invested its US$500 million Project Finance Fund.

Established in 1997, the Fund was the first of its kind to provide a source of capital for financing major projects in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Daniel Morash, Managing Director and Global Head of Project Finance commented, "While our fund is now fully invested, CIT's ability to arrange private institutional debt as well as lease and partnership equity on a turnkey basis remains unparalleled in the market."

Investments made by the Project Finance Fund include a gas storage facility, a molasses desugarization plant, as well as merchant power projects. Project sizes range from US$40 million to US$100 million.

The Fund's prime features include streamlined one-stop financing that provided ease of access to institutional capital, timely approval and execution of flexible, tailored structures, reliable long-term, non-recourse secured financing at competitive prices, and the ability to provide sole source funding or to work in conjunction with commercial bank lenders.

"Project financing is a major growth engine for CIT," said David McKerroll, President of CIT Structured Finance. "We are pleased to have worked so successfully with some of the most experienced investors in the project finance industry. The depth of funding available, combined with CIT's advisory, structuring and transaction management expertise, provided our clients with innovative solutions to complex project financing needs."

The Project Finance Fund's lead institutional investors are CIGNA Investments, Inc., John Hancock Life Insurance Company, and New York Life Insurance Company. CIT, in addition to being fund manager and loan originator, also invested in the Fund. Other investors include affiliates of American General Corporation, ING Investment Management, Inc., Lincoln Investment Management, Inc., The Mutual of Omaha Companies, and Pacific Life Insurance Company.

Founded in 1908 and with over $50 billion in total managed assets, The CIT Group (www.cit.com) is the largest publicly owned commercial finance organization. CIT Structured Finance is one of six operating groups of The CIT Group. Fortune magazine named CIT one of America's Most Admired Company's in February 2000. InformationWEEK Magazine ranks CIT #2 in its annual survey of top 500 companies using innovation in IT.