("CIT Chmn/CEO Peek Will Resign At Year's End; Shares Down"
published at 8:31 a.m. EDT, mispelled the chairman's name. A
corrected version follows.)
Jeffrey Peek plans to resign as CIT Group Inc.'s (CIT) chairman
and chief executive at the end of this year as the beleaguered
commercial lender tries to stay out of bankruptcy.
Shares slid 19% premarket to 84 cents.
Peek didn't say why he would be departing beyond noting the
company's ongoing debt-restrucuring plan, which seeks to get
bondholders with about $31 billion in debt to cut that by at least
$5.7 billion and extend debt maturities so it can avoid heading to
bankruptcy court to reorganize. The offer apparently is attracting
scant interest.
"Now is the appropriate time to focus on a transition of
leadership," he said.
The increased potential for bankruptcy is being closely watched
because it could cause ripple effects throughout the economy and
financial sector. CIT has an estimated $75 billion in assets and
provides critical short-term financing to about 1 million small
companies.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com;
