CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), a leading provider of commercial lending and leasing services, today announced that CIT Energy Finance served as lead arranger in a senior secured credit facility of up to $120 million for Sunlight Financial LLC, a provider of financing for the residential solar market. Sunlight Financial is backed by private equity firms Tiger Infrastructure Partners and Hudson Clean Energy Partners. The facility will be used to partially fund loans to consumers purchasing residential solar panel systems. Financing was provided by CIT Bank, N.A., the principal bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to partner with CIT on this financing, as it will allow us to offer longer term solar loans to homeowners across the United States,” said Matt Potere, CEO of Sunlight Financial. “Sunlight Financial is well positioned to capitalize on the thriving residential solar market, which is projected to continue its growth and maturation over the coming years.”

Mike Lorusso, Group Head of CIT Energy Finance, said, “This is an exciting transaction that further demonstrates our commitment to supporting the renewable energy sector. Our deep industry expertise enabled us to design a creative financing solution for Sunlight Financial. We look forward to building on this relationship and continuing our leadership in the solar sector.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:

CIT thought leadership content can be found at View from the Middle™ (cit.com/viewfromthemiddle) and our CIT Point of View blog (cit.com/pov). View our corporate video (cit.com/corporatevideo) and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. Register to receive press releases at cit.com/newsalerts.

About Sunlight Financial LLC

Sunlight Financial provides long-term loans to finance the installation of residential rooftop solar systems. Sunlight offers its financing products to market-leading installers and large equipment distribution companies (channel partners). These channel partners originate installations with homeowners, who typically choose to install a rooftop solar system to save on their utility bill. The company’s strategy is to grow with several installers by providing cost-effective capital and robust service offerings, enabling it to scale quickly while minimizing customer acquisition costs and overhead. The company was founded by Hudson Clean Energy Partners and is backed by Tiger Infrastructure Partners. For more information, please visit www.sunlightfinancial.com.

About Tiger Infrastructure Partners

Tiger Infrastructure Partners is an independent private equity firm focused on investments in middle-market infrastructure assets and businesses in North America and Europe. Tiger Infrastructure targets investments in the power, renewable energy, natural resources infrastructure, waste management, water, transportation, communications, and related sectors. Tiger Management LLC and members of the Ziff family are significant investors in Tiger Infrastructure. tigerinfrastructure.com

About Hudson Clean Energy Partners

Hudson Clean Energy Partners is a private equity firm making privately negotiated investments in the dynamic and expected high-growth clean energy industry. Global in scope, Hudson is dedicated to investing exclusively in renewable power, alternative fuels and energy smart technologies in sectors that include wind and solar energy, biofuels, biomass, geothermal energy, energy efficiency and storage. Hudson typically invests in high-growth, asset-based, capital-intensive segments of the clean energy value chain with minimal technology development risk, primarily in control and shared-control positions. hudsoncep.com

About CIT

Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE:CIT) is a financial holding company with more than $65 billion in assets. Its principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A., (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender) has more than $30 billion of deposits and more than $40 billion of assets. It provides financing, leasing and advisory services principally to middle market companies across more than 30 industries primarily in North America, and equipment financing and leasing solutions to the transportation sector. It also offers products and services to consumers through its Internet bank franchise and a network of retail branches in Southern California, operating as OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A. cit.com