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Il 25 marzo 2008, postavo questo commento...
Da seguire l'evoluzione della situazione di CIT... l'utilizzo contestuale di tutte le linee di credito attuato da CIT - come anche nota la Reuters - è l'estrema ratio per le aziende in difficoltà a trovare finanziatori, stando a significare che non c'è altra maniera per tirare avanti senza dover chiedere protezione nei confronti dei creditori.
Di norma o si trovano soluzioni estreme nel tempo che si guadagna disponendo della liquidità proveniente dalle linee di credito impiegate, oppure in fondo alla strada c'è il default.
CIT ha dapprima fatto sapere di avere fra i 5 ed i 7 mld USD di asset non core cedibili, una soluzione invero difficilmente praticabile. Questa soluzione resta comunque ad oggi perseguita da CIT, che è alla ricerca di acquirenti.
Ha poi informato di essere alla ricerca di funding presso istituzioni bancarie di oltreoceano (non USA, quindi).
Adesso dichiara di essere anche alla ricerca di una soluzione che la porti a vendersi per un prezzo stracciato ad un acquirente finanziariamente solido, seppure questa appaia come la soluzione piu' radicale alle difficoltà attuali.
In tale ipotesi gli azionisti (CIT è quotata a WS) pagheranno un prezzo senz'altro salatissimo, e c'è da vedere se basterà, visto che mentre è lecito attendersi che le banche siano aiutate in tutti i modi (lo stiamo vedendo in tutti i paesi occidentali) per le finanziarie sembra improbabile che ciò accada.
CIT hopes to avoid selling itself, but may have to
Reuters, Monday March 24 2008 By Dan Wilchins
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Commercial finance company CIT Group Inc will likely try to avoid selling itself because its market valuation is so low, but if market conditions continue to deteriorate, it may have little choice.
And if shedding assets and forming a joint venture with a bank proves difficult enough, the company may have to sell itself at a fire-sale price, following the paths of Bear Stearns Cos and Countrywide Financial Corp.
"If the company can survive without selling themselves, they will do everything they can to avoid it," said James Ellman, president at Seacliff Capital in San Francisco.
CIT is having trouble financing operations as bond markets become increasingly closed to finance companies. The company said on Thursday it had drawn down all of its $7.3 billion of bank lines to fund itself, a move often seen as a sign of desperation.
At the end of a conference call on Thursday, an analyst asked CIT Chief Executive Jeff Peek if drawing down bank lines was a sign the company was going to sell itself soon. CIT has been rumored to be looking for a buyer for years.
Peek responded: "(W)e are all about shareholder value and that's probably about as far as we can go on that topic."
That seemed to leave the door open for the company putting itself on the block, but selling at current valuations would be painful. CIT's shares closed at $13.03 on Monday, up 35 percent but less than half their tangible book value of $28.42.
If CIT was reluctant to sell itself when its shares were over $55 in 2007, it is not clear why it would sell itself when its shares are in the low teens, analysts said.
CIT said it is working on at least two efforts to shore up its financing. First, it is looking for a partner that could fund loans and leases.
The company is also looking at selling off assets outside of its main business, which it hopes will generate $5 billion to $7 billion of proceeds.
TOUGH PLAN
Both finding a partner and selling off assets would help, but will be hard to do now, a banker said.
CIT's Peek said the company had conversations with several banks about partnering and was close to a deal with one potential partner, but "the environment backed away a little bit."
Overseas banks, which The Wall Street Journal reported are talking with CIT, are unlikely to want to make a commercial finance company their beachhead in the United States, a banker said. Few U.S. banks are interested in ramping up their loan books as the economy slows.
General Electric Co has top triple-A credit ratings, which could put it in a position to buy weaker rivals, analysts said. But the company is also likely to avoid acquisitions that could negatively affect its funding costs, the banker said.
A GE spokesman could not be reached immediately on Monday for comment on CIT.
And selling loans and leases at a good price in this environment is difficult, even if the assets are performing well, the banker added. If CIT sells assets below their book value, its capital levels will suffer.
"Speculators don't quite understand the magnitude of the difficulties that companies like CIT still face," said Bo Brownstein, an analyst at Cambiar Investors in Denver.
If CIT has to sell itself, it will hardly be the first financial institution in that predicament. Bear Stearns Co Inc faced a run on the bank earlier this month and agreed to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase & Co at a fraction of its book value.
JPMorgan upped its bid on Monday to around $10 a share from around $2, but that is little comfort for investors who bought at well above $100 last year.
And Countrywide Financial Corp agreed in January to sell itself to Bank of America Corp in a deal widely seen as designed to prevent Countrywide from collapsing. (Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Andre Grenon)
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