Textron Financial: Newsroom: Press Release


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TEXTRON FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND AGRIFINANCE SIGN EXCLUSIVE FINANCIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT

St. Louis, MO- April 24, 2003 - Textron Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Textron, Inc. (NYSE: TXT), and AGRIFINANCE, a financial cooperative owned by the Canadian Credit Union system, jointly announced that they have signed an exclusive agreement for the referral of financial services. The agreement will benefit the Canadian agricultural equipment industry by providing financing capabilities to the industry’s entire distribution value chain—from the manufacturer, to the dealer, to the end user.

Textron Financial specializes in financing the sale of equipment from manufacturer to dealer. Agrifinance specializes in retail financing, equipment leasing, and accounts receivable financing (AgriCard). By joining forces, Textron Financial will funnel all retail business exclusively to Agrifinance while Agrifinance will exclusively refer all wholesale business to Textron Financial.

“Textron Financial has been loyally serving the wholesale finance needs of equipment manufacturers and dealers for over 30 years and is looking forward to combining its financing expertise with the complementary capabilities of Agrifinance,” said Chad Corsi, Textron Financial’s Vice President of Marketing. “This relationship will enable both organizations to broaden their customer base and utilize each other’s strengths to provide a complete, competitive package of services.”

Benefits of the agreement:

It brings an unprecedented package of wholesale, retail and accounts receivable financing services to the agricultural equipment market in Canada.
It combines the expertise of two organizations who are specific to the agricultural equipment business and recognized leaders in their areas of finance.
It offers the Canadian agricultural equipment market a reliable source of financing as both organizations share a common goal of commitment to the industry.

The agricultural equipment market in Canada is looking forward to the benefits that the new relationship will bring to the industry. "We are very pleased to hear that Textron Financial and Agrifinance have joined forces in Canada. We have worked with Agrifinance over the years and have found them to be very innovative and focused in their approach to retail financing of agricultural equipment in Canada,” said Don Henry, General Manager of Brandt Agricultural Products Ltd. “We also enjoy a successful relationship with Textron Financial, who has served our ongoing wholesale financing needs, and is very much in tune with our distribution network. We are excited that these two companies will be working together and think that it will provide great value to our distribution network and to our end user customers."

John Schmeiser, Executive Vice President, Canada West Equipment Dealers Association, stated, "Agrifinance has a solid reputation and good working relationship with dealers in western Canada. Their retail programs have been well received and competitive, and they continually meet the dealer's needs. We are excited about this new partnership with Textron Financial, as it will provide a complete financing package for the dealer. "

About Agrifinance
Owned by the Credit Union System of Canada, Agrifinance / AgriCard ®(CCAFS) has been providing financing options to Canadian farmers since 1980. AgriCard, introduced in 1995 provides customized, pre-approved lines of credit to be used specifically for the purchase of parts and service through its network of authorized dealerships across Canada.
www.agrifinance.ca

About Textron Financial Corporation
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.

About Textron Inc.
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) 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.