IN THE MARKETPLACE

IFC Credit Corporation of Morton Grove, IL, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire First Portland Corporation dba FIRSTCORP, based in Portland, OR. A leading small-ticket lessor of office equipment, FIRSTCORP serves equipment suppliers and end-users of equipment through a direct sales force, and through an advanced online lease processing system. The acquisition will provide IFC Credit with an expanded market presence through staffed offices in Chicago, Irvine, CA, Dallas, Atlanta, Portland, OR, Morton Grove, IL, and New Jersey.

Charter One Financial of Cleveland has launched Charter One Vendor Finance, LLC, a new subsidiary that will provide a wide range of financing and leasing services designed to meet the needs of manufacturers and distributors of capital equipment. Target clients will be Fortune 1000 companies, especially those that manufacture and distribute data processing and storage equipment, software, industrial equipment, medical equipment, and other capital equipment products. Charles G. Schultz has been named president of Charter One Vendor Finance. He was formerly group president of the Technology Solutions vendor finance unit at CitiCapital. In addition, John P. Cortese was named senior vice president, sales and marketing. James E. McLean was named senior vice president, chief credit officer, Sue A. Lubben, vice president, operations and portfolio management and Joseph M. Sarnicki, vice president, finance. Charter One Vendor Finance will be based in the Chicago suburb of Lisle, IL, and will operate as a subsidiary of Charter One Bank.

Wells Fargo Financial Leasing Inc. of Des Moines, IA, has acquired substantially all of the assets of Telmark LLC, Agway's agricultural lease financing subsidiary based in Syracuse, NY. The acquisition includes approximately $650 million in lease receivables and is subject to obtaining appropriate approvals, including the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York.

On October 1, 2002, Agway Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Telmark was not included in Agway's Chapter 11 filing. In addition, 215 employees of Telmark in Syracuse and in field positions throughout the United States have also joined the Wells Fargo Financial Leasing team. Dan Edinger, former president, Telmark, LLC, will head the rural markets division of Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, and the company will retain its offices in the Syracuse area.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has announced that it is selling the remaining $4.2 million performing lease portfolio of Southern Pacific Bank. The leases were originated by Southern Pacific BanCapital, a division of Southern Pacific Bank, which was closed by the California Commissioner of Financial Institutions on February 7, 2003. The portfolio consists of 18 performing middle market leases in two pools: One of lease loans secured by the leased equipment subject to the leases with the lessee; the second consists of direct finance leases. A third non-performing pool comprised of one workout agreement and one defaulted lease in bankruptcy with a combined book value of $4.1 million will also be offered. For more information, visit http://www.fdic.gov/.

Nassau Asset Management of Rosyln Heights, NY, has released a newly enhanced asset tracking system. NASTRAC is a Web-based program that keeps users informed about the status of repossessions, bids, and sales of equipment placements in real time. This newly refined online asset-tracking system, accessed with a password at Nassau's Web site, already has some 2,100 accounts, serving such commercial lenders as banks, leasing companies, credit unions and bankruptcy trustees. For more information, visit http://www.nasset.com/.

CIT Rail Resources of New York announced that following a growing demand from existing and prospective customers, it has placed orders with four manufacturers for 3,050 new railcars, including tank, cement, box, autoflood, coal gons and pressure differential (PD) cars. CIT expects to take delivery of the new equipment over the next 12 months. The new orders will bring CIT's 2002 new car order total to 5200. This is CIT's second order for cement cars in recent months, in response to rising construction activity in the U.S. and Canada, and the fourth order for PDs.

IFC Credit Corporation of Morton Grove, IL, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire First Portland Corporation dba FIRSTCORP, based in Portland, OR. A leading small-ticket lessor of office equipment, FIRSTCORP serves equipment suppliers and end-users of equipment through a direct sales force, and through an advanced online lease processing system. The acquisition will provide IFC Credit with an expanded market presence through staffed offices in Chicago, Irvine, CA, Dallas, Atlanta, Portland, OR, Morton Grove, IL, and New Jersey.

Charter One Financial of Cleveland has launched Charter One Vendor Finance, LLC, a new subsidiary that will provide a wide range of financing and leasing services designed to meet the needs of manufacturers and distributors of capital equipment. Target clients will be Fortune 1000 companies, especially those that manufacture and distribute data processing and storage equipment, software, industrial equipment, medical equipment, and other capital equipment products. Charles G. Schultz has been named president of Charter One Vendor Finance. He was formerly group president of the Technology Solutions vendor finance unit at CitiCapital. In addition, John P. Cortese was named senior vice president, sales and marketing. James E. McLean was named senior vice president, chief credit officer, Sue A. Lubben, vice president, operations and portfolio management and Joseph M. Sarnicki, vice president, finance. Charter One Vendor Finance will be based in the Chicago suburb of Lisle, IL, and will operate as a subsidiary of Charter One Bank.

Wells Fargo Financial Leasing Inc. of Des Moines, IA, has acquired substantially all of the assets of Telmark LLC, Agway's agricultural lease financing subsidiary based in Syracuse, NY. The acquisition includes approximately $650 million in lease receivables and is subject to obtaining appropriate approvals, including the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York.

On October 1, 2002, Agway Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Telmark was not included in Agway's Chapter 11 filing. In addition, 215 employees of Telmark in Syracuse and in field positions throughout the United States have also joined the Wells Fargo Financial Leasing team. Dan Edinger, former president, Telmark, LLC, will head the rural markets division of Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, and the company will retain its offices in the Syracuse area.