CIT to sell vendor-finance business

CIT Group, which emerged from bankruptcy in December, may sell its Australia and New Zealand vendor-finance business to Bank of Queensland as part of a reorganisation led by John A Thain. Bank of Queensland, an Australian regional bank, agreed to conduct exclusive due diligence for a potential takeover of the CIT business. Thain, the former head of Merrill Lynch who was hired by CIT as CEO, has promised to sell assets and shrink the New York-based company.