CIT Forms JV With Sovereign Investment

NEW YORK CITY-CIT Group Inc., a global provider of commercial and consumer finance solutions formed Sovereign Ventures NNN LLC, a joint venture with Sovereign Investment Co., a private equity investors that provides sale/leaseback capital. Under the terms of the agreement, Sovereign Ventures will have an initial capitalization of up to $250 million. Sovereign will manage the new entity.

Sovereign Ventures will purchase the portfolios of net-leased properties in the retail, restaurant, office and industrial sectors, and will target companies seeking to expand operations, recapitalize or create liquidity through their real estate assets, according to a release made by CIT.

A source close to the deal tells GlobeSt.com that the portfolios will be domestic and all over the US, but would not go into further detail.

“This joint venture will allow CIT to provide expanded financing options to our client base, especially for companies seeking to monetize owned real estate. Sovereign has a proven track record in this arena, and we believe their strengths are a terrific complement to CIT’s,” says Dennis Irvin, senior managing director of CIT Commercial Real Estate, a unit of CIT.

Pete Mavoides, president and CEO of Sovereign notes that they are pleased to enter into this relationship with such a “highly regarded and successful commercial and consumer finance company.”

He says, “The demand for Sovereign’s financial products continues to be strong, and this joint venture will provide us with the opportunity to continue to expand our business. We anticipate that our new relationship with CIT will provide the opportunity to access a much broader base of prospective customers and allow us to work with CIT to combine products and offer customers a more complete financing solution.”