Franklin of Mich. Backs Out of Lease Portfolio Sale

Five weeks after announcing plans to sell 35% of its equipment lease portfolio to a New York finance company, Franklin Bank of Southfield, Mich., has canceled the deal.

Franklin, with $486 million of assets, had agreed on Dec. 2 to sell $42 million in lease loans to Icon Funding Corp. of Harrison, N.Y., for an undisclosed sum. The bank had expected to make about $750,000 on the deal, which was supposed to close Dec. 31.

Read P. Dunn, Franklin's president and chief executive officer, refused to explain what sank the sale.

"The deal just didn't work out," Mr. Dunn said. "Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't."

Icon Funding officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Michael Moran, an analyst at Roney & Co. in Detroit, said he's not reading too much into Franklin's decision to abandon the sale. He said Franklin is likely to consider selling a portion of its lease portfolio in the future.

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