CIT Maritime Finance and RS Platou Finans Enter into Cooperation Agreement

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) cit.com, a global leader in transportation finance, today announced that CIT Maritime Finance has entered into a Cooperation Agreement with RS Platou Finans AS that will help CIT Maritime Finance expand into the leasing market.

"Through this agreement CIT Maritime Finance will have access to the RS Platou Group network of services, which will help us to further build a high quality portfolio of maritime assets,” said C. Jeffrey Knittel, President, CIT Transportation Finance.

Svein Engh, Group Head and Managing Director of CIT Maritime Finance, said, "We see great growth potential in the shipping finance business and are very pleased to enter into this relationship with RS Platou Finans. Their deep industry expertise will be an asset to CIT Maritime Finance as we continue to build our portfolio.”

Peter Anker, CEO of RS Platou ASA, said, "As a world leading brokerage house in shipping and offshore, this cooperation agreement with CIT Maritime Finance will further increase the range of services that we are able to offer our clients.”

Chris W. Svensson and Axel M. Aas, Co-founders of RS Platou Finans AS, said, "In the present banking world it has become even more important to find alternative financing. We are very pleased to develop this relationship with CIT and learn from their long-term experience of leasing assets to the aerospace and rail sectors.”

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About RS Platou Finans AS

RS Platou Finans AS was established 2004 as part of the RS Platou Group. It focuses on lease financing in the shipping and offshore industry and has structured more than 200 sale-leaseback vessels with transactions totaling approximately $4 billion (USD). It currently manages approximately 80 vessels running on various bareboat contracts.

About RS Platou

RS Platou is a leading international ship- and offshore broking company established in 1936. The Company serves the shipping and offshore industry worldwide by providing services within chartering, sale and purchase and contracting of ships and offshore units. Further, the Company provides investment banking services and project financing with a core focus on the shipping and offshore industries. The core services are complemented by a large variety of quality research material and market reports provided by the economic research group and the research analyst within the investment bank. The Company’s head office is in Oslo, Norway. RS Platou is also present in Singapore, Aberdeen, London, Houston, Moscow, Accra, Cape Town, Rio de Janerio, Shanghai, South Korea, Piraeus, Geneva, Dubai, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and New York. The Group has approximately 350 employees worldwide.

About CIT Maritime Finance

CIT Maritime Finance offers senior secured loans, sale-leasebacks and bareboat charters to owners and operators of oceangoing cargo vessels including tankers, bulkers, container ships, car carriers, as well as offshore vessels and drilling rigs. cit.com/maritime

About CIT

Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE: CIT) is a bank holding company with more than $35 billion in financing and leasing assets. It provides financing and leasing capital and advisory services to its clients and their customers across more than 30 industries. CIT maintains leadership positions in small business and middle market lending, factoring, retail finance, aerospace, equipment and rail leasing, and vendor finance. CIT operates CIT Bank (Member FDIC), its primary bank subsidiary, which, through its online bank BankOnCIT.com, offers a suite of savings options designed to help customers achieve a range of financial goals. cit.com

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