IN THE MARKETPLACE

Orion First Financial, LLC, Gig Harbor, WA, appointed Shannon M. Green to a senior management position. She is responsible for managing the credit and funding functions as well as refining the overall procedures of the company. Previously, she served as vice president of operations for Financial Pacific Leasing, LLC. Orion provides a complete suite of services to assist lending institutions and lessors successfully compete in the commercial equipment leasing industry, with a concentration in small ticket leasing.

The Andersons, Inc. Maumee, OH, announced it signed a letter of intent to acquire selected railroad leasing assets from Railcar, Ltd, a full-service railcar and locomotive leasing and management firm based in Atlanta. Under the agreement, Railcar, Ltd. will sell approximately 7000 railcars and 48 locomotives, most of which are currently under lease, to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) that will be owned by a consortium of investors. The Andersons will own a minority stake. The Andersons' Rail Group will manage the assets for the newly formed company for a management fee. In addition, The Andersons announced a cash dividend of 7 cents per share, which is the company's 26th consecutive quarterly cash dividend since its listing on NASDAQ on February 20, 1996. The Andersons, Inc. is a regional grain merchandiser with diversified businesses in agriculture, fertilizer distribution, turf product production, railcar marketing and general merchandise retailing that generate revenues of approximately $1.1 billion per year.

TCF Leasing, Inc., Minnetonka, MN, named Tom Strickfaden vice president, Manufacturing Equipment Division. He will be based in Farmington Hills, MI, and provide equipment financing for the woodworking and machine tool industry. In addition, Jim Manns was named vice president, and will be based in Overland Park, KS. He will primarily serve companies based in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. TCF Leasing, Inc., a wholly owned leasing and equipment finance subsidiary of TCF Financial Corporation, is a general equipment finance company focused on middle market companies, specialty vehicle, manufacturing equipment and lease discounting.

Fitch Ratings, New York, announced that aircraft lease rates are already down between 10%-50% from pre-September 11 levels, and it anticipates that lease rates will fall an additional 15%-20% or more in 2003, according to a new report on aircraft operating lease asset-backed securitizations published by the rating agency. Aircraft lease ABS transactions with the least liquid aircraft and the most terminations in the next 12-24 months will experience the highest cash flow impairment and, consequently, will be the most likely candidates for a rating downgrade. The report finds that if the liquidation of one or more large U.S. airlines were to occur, the utility of many aircraft types would be impaired and the lease rate decline would be exacerbated. The factors that will have the most impact on the magnitude of performance changes in aircraft lease ABS transactions will be the liquidity of the aircraft in the portfolio and the amount and timing of the lease terminations. The new report titled Aircraft Operating Lease ABS: Iraq and Beyond, is available at http://www.fitchresearch.com/, Fitch's subscription based Web site, by selecting 'special reports' under the ABS sector.

Ryder System, Inc., Miami, launched a lease finance program with Fleet Capital Leasing's Global Vendor Finance Group to provide customer financing for equipment combined with programmed maintenance for Ryder's customers and prospects. Under the program, Fleet will provide competitive pricing and flexible leasing terms for Ryder's existing customers and prospects.

Equilease Financial Services, Norwalk, CT acquired a portfolio of equipment leases consisting of 14 schedules with obligations from lessees of $8.7 million and an original equipment cost in excess of $12.4 million. This portfolio, consisting primarily of manufacturing and transportation industry equipment, was funded out of Equilease's recently completed $100m acquisition facility. Equilease is a specialty finance company that provides lease and loan financing through the acquisition of seasoned portfolios from institutions, captive leasing companies and managed debt facilities.

De Lage Landen Financial Services, Wayne, PA, appointed Rita Di Martino executive vice president and chief operating officer. She reports directly to Ronald Slaats, chairman of the Americas Division of De Lage Landen International B.V., and serves as a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Di Martino previously served as senior vice president, chief information officer, group manager-Operations & Technology for Fleet Capital Leasing.

42 North Structured Finance, Inc., Boston, announced two appointments: Suzanne H. McElyea, CPA, is managing director, origination. She previously served as director, transactions services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she focused on structuring large real estate and equipment purchases for corporate clients. McElyea will be based in Dallas.

Philip J. Hetzner was named vice president, origination, specializing in project finance transactions for 42North, Boston. He was previously employed at K&M Engineering and Consulting Corporation, where he was responsible for power project development and finance. Hetzner specializes in optimally structuring projects during the development phase in order to achieve the most efficient financing. He will be based in Boston. 42 North is a specialty finance company providing advisory, origination and syndication services for equipment and real estate financings and was organized in May 2002 by former employees of Key Global Finance.

Orion First Financial, LLC, Gig Harbor, WA, appointed Shannon M. Green to a senior management position. She is responsible for managing the credit and funding functions as well as refining the overall procedures of the company. Previously, she served as vice president of operations for Financial Pacific Leasing, LLC. Orion provides a complete suite of services to assist lending institutions and lessors successfully compete in the commercial equipment leasing industry, with a concentration in small ticket leasing.

The Andersons, Inc. Maumee, OH, announced it signed a letter of intent to acquire selected railroad leasing assets from Railcar, Ltd, a full-service railcar and locomotive leasing and management firm based in Atlanta. Under the agreement, Railcar, Ltd. will sell approximately 7000 railcars and 48 locomotives, most of which are currently under lease, to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) that will be owned by a consortium of investors. The Andersons will own a minority stake. The Andersons' Rail Group will manage the assets for the newly formed company for a management fee. In addition, The Andersons announced a cash dividend of 7 cents per share, which is the company's 26th consecutive quarterly cash dividend since its listing on NASDAQ on February 20, 1996. The Andersons, Inc. is a regional grain merchandiser with diversified businesses in agriculture, fertilizer distribution, turf product production, railcar marketing and general merchandise retailing that generate revenues of approximately $1.1 billion per year.

TCF Leasing, Inc., Minnetonka, MN, named Tom Strickfaden vice president, Manufacturing Equipment Division. He will be based in Farmington Hills, MI, and provide equipment financing for the woodworking and machine tool industry. In addition, Jim Manns was named vice president, and will be based in Overland Park, KS. He will primarily serve companies based in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. TCF Leasing, Inc., a wholly owned leasing and equipment finance subsidiary of TCF Financial Corporation, is a general equipment finance company focused on middle market companies, specialty vehicle, manufacturing equipment and lease discounting.

Fitch Ratings, New York, announced that aircraft lease rates are already down between 10%-50% from pre-September 11 levels, and it anticipates that lease rates will fall an additional 15%-20% or more in 2003, according to a new report on aircraft operating lease asset-backed securitizations published by the rating agency. Aircraft lease ABS transactions with the least liquid aircraft and the most terminations in the next 12-24 months will experience the highest cash flow impairment and, consequently, will be the most likely candidates for a rating downgrade. The report finds that if the liquidation of one or more large U.S. airlines were to occur, the utility of many aircraft types would be impaired and the lease rate decline would be exacerbated. The factors that will have the most impact on the magnitude of performance changes in aircraft lease ABS transactions will be the liquidity of the aircraft in the portfolio and the amount and timing of the lease terminations. The new report titled Aircraft Operating Lease ABS: Iraq and Beyond, is available at http://www.fitchresearch.com/, Fitch's subscription based Web site, by selecting 'special reports' under the ABS sector.

Ryder System, Inc., Miami, launched a lease finance program with Fleet Capital Leasing's Global Vendor Finance Group to provide customer financing for equipment combined with programmed maintenance for Ryder's customers and prospects. Under the program, Fleet will provide competitive pricing and flexible leasing terms for Ryder's existing customers and prospects.

Equilease Financial Services, Norwalk, CT acquired a portfolio of equipment leases consisting of 14 schedules with obligations from lessees of $8.7 million and an original equipment cost in excess of $12.4 million. This portfolio, consisting primarily of manufacturing and transportation industry equipment, was funded out of Equilease's recently completed $100m acquisition facility. Equilease is a specialty finance company that provides lease and loan financing through the acquisition of seasoned portfolios from institutions, captive leasing companies and managed debt facilities.