CIT Finalizes OneWest Bank Deal

NEW YORK CITY—CIT Group's $3.4 billion acquisition of OneWest Bank N.A. has closed, more than a year after it was first announced. GlobeSt.com reported on July 22 that the cash-and-stock deal had been approved by state and federal regulators.

“The completion of this transaction advances our strategic efforts to build a leading commercial banking franchise,” says John Thain, CIT's chairman and CEO. “Through the combination of our national lending and leasing platform with OneWest's wholesale lending and branch banking franchise, we've created a differentiated provider of banking services for small and middle-market businesses.”

Thain will continue to lead the combined company. Steven Mnuchin, former chairman of IMB Holdco LLC, OneWest's parent company, has joined CIT Group as a vice chairman and a member of its board.

Formerly of Goldman Sachs, Mnuchin led the investor group that bought the assets of the former IndyMac Bank from the FDIC in March 2009. Al Frank, a former independent director of OneWest Bank, has also joined CIT's board, increasing its membership from 13 to 15.

The combined company, CIT Group Inc., now has more than $65 billion in assets and more than $30 billion of deposits. As part of the transaction, CIT Bank merged with and into OneWest Bank, which was renamed CIT Bank N.A.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisor to CIT, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as CIT's legal counsel. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP represented IMB Holdco LLC. Sullivan & Cromwell served as joint regulatory counsel for CIT and IMB Holdco LLC.

When the merger—one of the largest in the banking sector since the 2008 financial crisis—was first announced in July 2014, Thain said it would  “combine CIT's national middle market lending platform with OneWest's wholesale lending and branch banking franchise to create a unique provider of retail and institutional financial services.” At that time, the deal was expected to close in the first or second quarter of this year; Bloomberg Business reported last month that it was delayed by objections from low-income borrower advocacy groups.