Headlines---

 

   Amresco Files for Bankruptcy

      Textron Vendor Finance Group:  Going, Going, Gone!

        JDR Capital Residual Complaint/Asks Readers for Help

           Fidelity Leasing, PA, “ ‘No” to Broker Business.”

            Tyco Sells More CIT Assets

            Rates Rise in Treasury Bill Auction

             Article 9-UCC Now in Effect

               IBM New Rate   * as low as 5.3%

                  Austin, Texas Group Targets Silicon Valley, California

                    Amembal Capital Corporation (ACC) Announces Record Earnings

                       Charter One/Alliance Bancorp Merger Final Today/Top 30 Banks

 

                     

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"Textron Financial is closing their Vendor Finance Group that is based in

Providence, RI and Portland, OR.

 

 

Yes, it's true. I (Dave Alvey, Atlantic Commercial) did verify last week

through:

 

Kyle L. Smith, Textron Financial, Inc., 4550 North Point Parkway, Suite 400,

Alpharetta, GA 30022

Tele:     800-333-0242

 

that Textron is no longer in the vendor finance business.  The have

transitioned most of their resources to factoring of commercial accounts.

 

David Alvey

accredit@mindspring.com

 

Textron Financial Corporation has been thinking and pondering about getting out

of the vendor leasing business for quite some time. They had bought it from Nations Bank thinking it would be a good way to consolidate their captive finance programs for

Jacobsen, EZGo, Cushman and some of the other stuff associated with their "golf" division.  They had a couple of other vendor program like Hunter Automotive and Steinway Pianos.  These are good programs that Textron is reportedly going to try to hang on to.

 

Name Withheld

 

Kit—

 

The news about Textron is really old.

 

Most of the people their actually fee liberated now that it's over.  The morale and atmosphere here has not been good

 

Please don’t publish my name as I am still employed.

 

Name Withheld

 

Don’t use my name, please!!!

 

Jim Merrilees  ( former president of Colonial Pacific, who left to start Grayrock Capital/Nations Credit, Beaverton, Oregon, which was sold 1/29/99 to Textron .editor)  has a very good following, actually increased volume and had gotten the yields up, but I

am told the division was not profitable because it was supporting staff for other

vendor operations. 

 

Accordingly, his division was paying for expenses of other groups, and there were

some unhappy people, including Merrilees.  I was personally told it was not

his intention to stay beyond the end of the year as his contract was up, plus his non-compete clause had expired about a year ago.

 

Again, please don’t use my name.

 

  (  Leasing News has attempted to contact Mr. Merrilees by e-mail for his comments

  about the closing of the “division”, but has not heard from him at this date. editor )

 

 

  Fidelity Leasing

 

A source that currently works at Fidelity Leasing in PA. has indicated that

they are in the process of making calls to third party originators (BROKERS)

notifying them that they are no longer accepting business.  They are

indicating that these will only be low volume, poor performing BROKERS at

first, however, the tone of the conversation was that it is only a matter of

time until business from all BROKERS is discontinued.  And as of last

Thursday, the West Coast marketing Rep for BROKER business is no longer with

Fidelity.  The move is to allow their 40+ person direct sales force to focus

on VENDOR business.  This all the result of the CITICapital purchase of EAB

which is the parent of Fidelity Leasing.

 

-         name withheld –

 

Amresco Files for Bankruptcy

 

DALLAS (AP) -- Amresco Inc., which lends to small and mid-sized businesses, said Monday it has filed for bankruptcy and agreed to sell its assets for $309 million to investors including Goldman Sachs.

 

The Dallas-based company said it agreed to sell substantially all of its assets to NCS I LLC, which includes Goldman Sachs, Renewal Partners LLC and affiliates of Fortress Investment Fund LLC. The purchase price would include $151 million of cash, a $25 million six-month note and the replacement of $133 million in debt.

 

The sale is subject to bankruptcy court approval.

 

Amresco said its two operating subsidiaries, Amresco Commercial Finance Inc. and Amresco Independence Funding Inc. are not included in the bankruptcy filing. The company said the subsidiaries have received commitments for up to $275 million from Renewal Partners and Fortress Investment to refinance existing warehouse facilities and continue operations.

 

Amresco chairman and chief executive Randy Brown said company directors had approved a a loan from NCS I LLC members to keep the company going. But, he said, the company's loan portfolio lost value because of delinquencies and projected credit losses, prompting the lenders to back out.

 

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  JDR Capital Complaint/Question to Readers

 

Dimension Funding has been unable to prevent JDR from quoting lease payoffs directly to our lessees.  Our concerns are obvious and feel that our residuals are being  jeopardized. 

 

We have letters giving us the residuals and all the ucc's.

 

Also, there doesn't seem to be anyone there for us or our legal counsel to contact. 

 

I'm sure other lessors are similarly situated and stand to lose dollars as well.  Could you please publish this to your readership.  I would appreciate any advise or legal assistance that may come forward.  I can be reached at:

 

 mwagner@dimensionfunding.com. 

 

thank you,

michael wagner

 

   ( We have attempted to contact JDR Capital for a comment. editor )

 

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   United Capital, Austin, Texas---Enough, Already!!!!

 

Kit, I hope this is not news to you....but  "Steve Dallas" is a non-event..and we are frigging tired of hearing of this Loser.  Please move on  to another topic.   He / his company had a very small/ if any effect on the leasing industry.  

Can we move on.  NUF SED.

 

 name withheld

 

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 Article 9—New UCC Laws Now in Effect

 

  We have written about this taking effect many times, including the

   first time over a year ago,

           Ken Greene, Esq.: http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/May/5-27-00.htm

and then twice last month in detail: 

    Cooper/White/Cooper/Synopsis:

             http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/June01/6-19-01.htm

            eOriginal/In Depth:

                  http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/June01/6-20-01.htm

 

  According to NCCUSL, all fifty states and the District of Columbia have

adopted R9.  The following states have delayed effective dates as indicated:

 

Alabama (1/1/02)

Connecticut (10/1/01)

Florida (1/1/02)

Mississippi (1/1/02)

     If you would like to see if it applies to your state, or want more information regarding   UCC laws in your state, go to: http://www.nccusl.org   Then go to select an “act” and choose Article 9, then go to the section for “state.” This will get you the best information

 state-by-state.

 

    For a synopsis or state listings, go to:

             http://www.ctcorporation.com/update/news/article9_0700.html

            http://www.intercountyclearance.com/ra9/ra9.html

              http://www.cfa.com/Revised_article_9/revised_article9.htm

 

Or as they say all the time, it is best to consult a professional, such as an attorney

who specializes in such matters and is well-experienced with equipment leasing.

 A little knowledge is a “dangerous thing.”  Contact your attorney to learn what

 applies best for you in this change of state laws.

 

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Tyco Sells CIT's Manufactured Housing Assets

 

 

PEMBROKE, Bermuda, / -- Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC; LSE: TYI: BSX: TYC) announced today that it has sold the CIT Group/Sales Financing Inc.'s Manufactured Housing (MH) Portfolio to Lehman Brothers.  The asset value of the portfolio is approximately $1.575 billion. CIT, the financial services division of Tyco International, will continue to service existing customer accounts and will originate manufactured housing financing for sale to other entities.

 

According to Tyco International Chairman and CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski: "The divestiture is part of Tyco's previously announced strategy to exit CIT's non-core businesses and to concentrate on stronger growth prospects within CIT's overall business. The sale of CIT's Manufactured Housing Portfolio, in addition to several other recent portfolio divestitures, brings us approximately halfway to our stated goal of divesting $4 to 6 billion in CIT's non-strategic assets by the end of our fiscal year."

 

Mr. Kozlowski added:  "Over the years, CIT has held a leadership position in providing financing to the MH marketplace. Existing customers can continue to expect the high level of service that they count on from CIT."

 

Tyco announced in June that the CIT Specialty Finance Group would no longer originate recreational vehicle financing in order to concentrate efforts on more robust growth opportunities.  CIT's Specialty Finance offers financing and leasing services for home equity, office and technology equipment.

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IBM KICKS OFF THIRD QUARTER WITH NEW FINANCING RATE

 

ARMONK, N.Y., -- IBM today announced a reduction in its low interest rate available to customers on an expanded range of IBM products. The below-market financing rate -- now as low as 5.3 percent* -- offering is available to qualified customers through IBM Global Financing, the information technology industry's leading financier.

"Customer response has been strong to IBM's Low Rate Financing offering since it was announced earlier this year, " said Catherine E. Manion, general manager,

IBM Global Financing, Americas. "Clearly, companies understand that to remain competitive they must invest in IT hardware, software and services to create a

solid e-business infrastructure. IBM Global Financing can help customers conserve and better manage their cash flow by providing financing choices -- with payment deferrals or low rate leases and other attractive alternatives to

help customers purchase the technology they need, when they need it."

Low Rate Financing is an offering first announced in February 2001 that provides low-rate financing to qualified customers on a spectrum of IBM eServers, PCs,

retail store systems, storage and networking products, printers and services.

This special rate is available to customers in North America and in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

Additional products are available for Low Rate Financing in the third quarter, including eServer xSeries acquisitions valued at $50,000 or more, and a

powerful, e-infrastructure solution, being announced today by IBM's Web Server unit, that includes eServer pSeries p640 or p660 servers combined with IBM

WebSphere Application Server and DB2 Universal Database or Tivoli Storage Manager. In addition, the total amount that can be financed at the lower rate has been increased to $1 million. Also, IBM Storage products can be financed up to an additional $1 million and, for a limited specific combination of Web servers and software products, the total amount available for lease financing can be up to $2.5 million.

Additional details on eligible IBM products and offering descriptions are available from IBM Business Partners, IBM client representatives or at www.ibm.com/financing.

About IBM Global Financing

As the largest information technology financier in the world, IBM Global Financing offers customers in more than 40 countries leasing and financing solutions for hardware, software and services acquired from IBM and other vendors. With more than $46 billion in annual financing originations in 2000, IBM Global Financing also provides flexible commercial financing for inventory,

accounts receivable and other working capital requirements. In the United States, IBM Global Financing customers are served by IBM Credit Corporation.

The final financing rate that a customer receives depends on the customer's credit rating and the term of the lease, among other factors. More information

can be found at www.ibm.com/financing.

 

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National Leasing Releases FastCredit 2.0

 

National Leasing Group, the leader in the Canadian Equipment leasing industry, is pleased to announce the release of its new FastCredit 2.0 Online Credit

Scoring and Adjudication System.

 

The Internet based scoring system provides instant credit adjudication of lease applications. This one of a kind product will process over 60,000 lease applications per year. Over 200 users across the Canadian leasing industry use this product to process their lease transactions every day, with 24/7 access.

 

This is truly a unique, homegrown product. It was developed over the past year

by National's own team of technicians and comprised over 5 person years of

development time.

 

FastCredit 2.0 is positioned to revolutionize the industry by providing true online, real-time credit adjudication.

 

National Leasing, a dynamic and fast growing company, has been providing leasing solutions to business in Canada and U.S. for over 30 years. As an ISO 9002

Certified company and one of Canada

 

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Amembal Capital Corporation (ACC) Announces Record Earnings

 

ACC is pleased to announce its second consecutive record year in financial performance for its fiscal year ending 3/31/01. Sales grew 35.29% and profitability after tax growth was 25.27%. Despite growing concerns in the industry, ACC management remains positive that the company will continue its growth and generate additional revenues with the introduction of new programs and services to our customers. Loni L. Lowder, President and CEO, stated that the company’s new initiatives in small ticket (Vista Lease program) and agricultural leasing will continue to provide value-added products for our clients. Also, our Summit Club @ ACC program has been well received by brokers looking for a strong partner that is able to enhance brokers’ capabilities and provide additional incentive income to participants. The program offers discounting, profit sharing and volume benefits among other member benefits.

 

ACC is a diversified equipment finance company, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, that specializes in the structuring, origination, servicing and syndication of a broad array of lease products to middle and lower-middle markets in the United States.

 

For company information and programs overview, please contact Angela Schmitz at (801) 530-7771 or email aschmitz@amembalcapital.com.

 

 

Rates Rise in Treasury Bill Auction

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday's auction.

 

The Treasury Department sold $15 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.580 percent, up from 3.375 percent last week. An additional $12 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 3.500 percent, up from 3.340 percent.

 

The three-month rate was the highest since June 4 when the bills sold for 3.590 percent. The six-month rate was the highest since June 11 when the rate was 3.510.

 

The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors -- 3.663 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,909.50 and 3.612 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,823.10.

 

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 3.60 percent last week from 3.46 percent the previous week.

 

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Austin, Texas Group target Silicon Valley, California

 

Representatives of chamber, RECA to visit San Jose area in September to recruit companies

 

Mary Alice Piasecki   Austin Business Journal Staff

 

Capitalizing on California's energy woes, members of two influential Austin business groups are planning a trip to the Silicon Valley to woo companies to the Silicon Hills.

John Breier, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's new vice president of economic development, says members of the chamber and the Real Estate Council of Austin plan to meet Sept. 24-26 with executives of more than 50 companies in the Silicon Valley.

Breier says uncertainty about California's energy supply and costs associated with blackouts might mean those executives are more receptive expanding or relocating to another city. The San Jose-based Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group estimates California's first power blackout in June 2000 cost its 190 member companies $100 million.

Breier also says layoffs in Central Texas mean this area has a deeper pool of talent. The chamber has tracked a total of 14,066 layoffs in the Austin area from January through the end of May -- 12,063 of them in the high tech industry. During all of 2000, only 2,586 layoffs were recorded by the chamber.

A consultant who has studied the Silicon Valley area supports Breier's reasoning.

The energy crisis "could be the last straw that breaks the camel's back," says Praveen Madan, principal consultant for the Santa Clara, Calif., office of Plano-based A.T. Kearney Inc.

A.T. Kearney, a management consulting and executive search firm, has done several studies about economic indicators in the Silicon Valley. One of those studies, released in October, found 30 percent of Internet companies in the Silicon Valley would consider relocating. Their first choice for a new locale: Austin.

Madan says he doubts the energy crisis alone will drive companies out of the Silicon Valley. However, he says, that combined with other factors might translate into opportunity for cities such as Austin. Those factors include the labor shortage -- temporarily eased by layoffs -- and the high cost of real estate.

"It's actually a really good time for companies to be thinking about relocation decisions that are motivated by lower costs," Madan says. "Austin is definitely at the top of the list."

In making pitches to larger Silicon Valley companies, Austin leaders should sell the city's relatively affordable real estate and cost of doing business, Madan says. However, he says, smaller companies and dot-coms likely will be more enticed if Austin can ante up with venture funding.

The chamber and RECA aren't alone in their California recruitment efforts.

In January, the Texas Department of Economic Development launched a California outreach program of its own. The agency is targeting corporate decision-makers through trade shows and direct mail.

Breier says the chamber/RECA visit in September probably won't be the only recruitment trip to the Silicon Valley.

"Economic development is a process," Breier says. "This is something the chamber should be doing on a regular basis. The real benefit doesn't come from this trip; it comes from the followups."

Janice Cartwright, executive director of RECA, agrees that several trips should be made.

"I am certain we will have a lot of interest by our membership," Cartwright says.

Breier is leading efforts to organize the trip with help from the chamber's co-vice chairmen for economic development, Tim Crowley and J.B. Goodwin. Crowley is the local president for Frost National Bank, and Goodwin is CEO of real estate company JB Goodwin Co.

Terry Burris, director of operations in Austin for Freemont, Calif.-based FM Industries Inc., says companies often ponder relocation and expansion decisions for two to three years. FM Industries, a contract manufacturer for Applied Materials Inc., set up shop in Austin this March.

"It's a good time to put the seeds out, but it may be when the financial picture is a little better before they actually make the decision to move," Burris says.

Burris says energy is something companies such as FM Industries consider crucial.

"All our equipment runs off electrical power," Burris says. "If the equipment is not running, we're not making money."

 

 ( Don’t laugh, you may be next. editor )

 

  

 

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