Goldman gets $1 billion if CIT goes under

Goldman gets $1 billion if CIT goes under

Goldman would be owed $1 billion payment as part of rescue package it extended to the embattled lender in 2008.


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Goldman Sachs Group would be due a payment of about $1 billion if troubled commercial lender CIT Group were to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Goldman (GS, Fortune 500) would be owed the payment under a $3 billion rescue finance package it gave to CIT in June 2008. That rescue came before the U.S. government bought $2.33 billion of CIT preferred shares in December.

CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) would be required to pay the $1 billion as a "make-whole payment" under that agreement.

A Goldman executive stressed that the payment would not be a windfall payment, but that the $1 billion is simply the present value of the spread to be earned over the life of the facility.

Goldman is likely to agree to let CIT delay payment on some of the amount, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

Beyond the $1 billion payment from its rescue package, Goldman would also receive payment from credit insurance it holds if CIT were to go bankrupt.

The Goldman executive said the credit insurance was not a directional bet on CIT and was bought to protect against the possibility of a precipitous decline in the value of its collateral.

CIT could not be reached for comment.

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