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CHRONOLOGY: A century of CIT, from St Louis to New York

By: Reuters | 01 Nov 2009 | 05:02 PM ET

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CIT Group Inc, a lender to a million small and mid-sized U.S. businesses, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. The following is a collection of key dates of the 101-year old business lender.

1908 - 37 year-old Henry Ittleson founds CIT in St. Louis. Within three months, the business lender had 22 clients, including chemical company Monsanto. Seven years later the company moves to New York.

1924 - CIT sells stock to the public and becomes the first company of its kind to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1928 - CIT enters into factoring.

1929 - The company reports record earnings just a few months after the 1929 stock market crash, and remained relatively sound during the 1930s. It acquired companies to boost its business, including Ford Motor's financing wing, Universal Credit Corporation. Over time, the company also starts buying manufacturing businesses.

1969 - CIT abandons its auto financing business, and turns to personal and home equity loans and equipment leasing. It acquired a series of banks in the 1960s and 70s, but sold its banking operations in 1979.

1980 - RCA Corp acquires CIT and sells its four manufacturing businesses.

1982 - CIT moves to Livingston, New Jersey, a suburb of New York.

1984 - RCA sells CIT to Manufacturers Hanover Trust Corporation. The two companies combined became the largest factoring unit in the world.

1986 - CIT transfers its consumer loan portfolio to Manufacturers Hanover to focus exclusively on business clients.

1992 - CIT reenters into the personal consumer market.

1997 - CIT holds an IPO and is relisted on the NYSE.

2001 - Tyco International agrees to buy CIT for about $10 billion, but is forced to spin it off to shareholders a year later as Tyco struggles with a massive debt burden from such acquisitions.

2003 - Jeffrey Peek is appointed chief operating officer, with the expectation of becoming chief executive. Peek became CEO in 2004. The company begins an aggressive expansion into subprime and student loans.

2006 - CIT moves to New York into a new, 28-story, glass-encased tower at 505 Fifth Avenue.

2009 - CIT loses its investment-grade debt ratings, and warns about the potential for bankruptcy as it struggles to get financing. Peek announces plans to retire only one month after the company renewed his contract for one year.

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