In Brief: CIT Buys Factoring Unit from First Union

The CIT Group Inc. said Tuesday that it had bought First Union Corp.'s Congress Talcott, a $4 billion factoring unit.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but analysts estimated that CIT paid $100 million to $200 million for Congress Talcott, which is based in New York and is one of the top 10 factoring lenders in the nation. The purchase cements CIT's No. 1 position in factoring, which lets companies obtain short-term financing by selling accounts receivable.

CIT also said Tuesday that net income for the three months ended March 31 was $91.9 million, up 12.5% from a year earlier.

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