CIT Joins TPG to Form Special-Situations Lending Venture

CIT Group in New York has formed a joint venture with the private equity firm TPG Capital to provide commercial lending.

TPG, led by David Bonderman and Jim Coulter, said its special-situations and credit platform will form the venture with the $65 billion-asset CIT, to be called Strategic Credit Partners. The new company will provide senior secured financing to U.S. companies in industries including communications, health care and information services, CIT said Wednesday in a statement.

The venture will have a target size of $500 million. The deal will help CIT, a provider of lending and leasing services, win business as Chief Executive Officer John Thain seeks to accelerate growth after the company emerged from a 2009 bankruptcy.

In July, regulators approved CIT's $3.4 billion takeover of OneWest Bank, a Pasadena, Calif.-based lender backed by billionaires John Paulson and George Soros.

"Our efforts to support the financing needs of our customers will be greatly enhanced through this new relationship," Jim Hudak, president of CIT Corporate Finance, said in the statement. "This joint venture will further advance our efforts to grow our commercial lending franchise."

TPG manages about $75 billion in assets. Special Situations Partners had more than $12 billion of assets under management as of June 30 and works on public and private investments through primary originations, secondary market purchases and restructurings.

Deutsche Bank is financial adviser to CIT on the deal, and Dechert provided legal counsel. TPG Special Situations Partners used Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for legal counsel.

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