Textron Financial Sells $93 Million Of Franchise Portfolio To GE Franchise Finance

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.--June 27, 2003--Consistent with its strategy to divest non-core assets, Textron Financial, a unit of Textron Inc. , today announced that it has sold certain loans in its Franchise Finance portfolio to GE Franchise Finance. The sale includes approximately $93 million in loans. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
    Textron Financial's Franchise division provides loans to multi-unit operators of restaurant and convenience store concepts.
    "This sale is part of our strategy to dispose of certain assets to allow Textron Financial to focus on our core businesses and improve our overall profitability," said Jay Carter, Textron Financial president and chief operating officer.
    Textron Financial is a diversified commercial finance company with over $9 billion in managed and serviced finance receivables. It has core businesses in Aircraft Finance, Asset-Based Lending, Distribution Finance, Golf Finance, Resort Finance, and Structured Capital. Textron Financial also provides financing programs for products manufactured by its parent company, Textron Inc. Additional information about the company is available at www.textronfinancial.com.
    GE Franchise Finance (GEFF) is a leading lender for the franchise finance market via direct sales and portfolio acquisition in the United States and Canada. With over $12 billion in served assets, GEFF serves over 3,000 customers and over 15,000 property locations, primarily in the restaurant, hospitality, branded beverage, storage and automotive industries. GEFF offers customers access to capital with a menu of products featuring flexible structuring, including financing and refinancing for acquisitions, construction and remodels for single- and multi-unit operators. GEFF is a unit of GE Commercial Equipment Financing, a division of GE Commercial Finance. GE is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
    Textron Inc. is an $11 billion multi-industry company with 49,000 employees in 40 countries. The company leverages its global network of businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services in industries such as aircraft, industrial products and components, fastening systems and finance. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others. More information is available at www.textron.com.