by Calculated Risk on 11/01/2009 03:53:00 PM

Press Release: CIT Board of Directors Approves Proceeding with Prepackaged Plan of Reorganization with Overwhelming Support of Debtholders

And from the NY Times Dealbook: CIT Files for Bankruptcy

On Sunday afternoon, the company filed for Chapter 11 — but under a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy plan that will enable it to emerge from court protection by the end of the year.

Sunday’s filing, made in a Manhattan federal court, caps months of efforts by CIT to stay alive.

And from the WSJ:

One loser from a bankruptcy would be the U.S. Treasury. Late last year it injected $2.3 billion of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program ... The government investment is likely to be wiped out ...

Even if CIT emerges intact, its lending capacity could drop to less than 20% of what it was two years ago, according to an estimate by Brian Charles, a debt analyst at R.W. Pressprich & Co.

CIT provides financing for about one million small businesses, so the key question is how will this impact the ability of many small businesses to obtain financing.