CIT Group Elling Aviation Loan Portfolio To KKR

(RTTNews) - CIT Group Inc. (CIT) Friday announced sale of its aviation loan portfolio to KKR, a global investment firm.

This is related to a previously announced agreement for a loan portfolio of nearly $800 million balance across more than 50 loans for about 60 commercial aircraft.

CIT said it has transferred the majority of loans and expects to complete the process by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

Upon completion, CIT will completely come out of its aircraft lending business and focus on providing banking and advisory services as part of its core Aerospace, Defense and Government Services business.

The portfolio will be serviced by AV AirFinance Limited, a commercial aviation loan servicer, launched by KKR.

"This transaction allows CIT to rebalance our portfolio mix and reinvest in core businesses," said Phil Robbins, CIT President of Asset Management and Capital Markets.

"The purchase of this loan portfolio from CIT will be used to seed the launch of our aviation lending business in partnership with AV AirFinance," Dan Pietrzak, Partner and Co-head of Private Credit at KKR, commented.