Textron Financial: Newsroom: Press Release


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Textron Financial Sells $402 Million Small Business Direct Portfolio To MBNA America Bank, N.A.

Providence, Rhode Island - January 7, 2004 - Delivering on its strategy to divest and dispose of non-core assets, Textron Financial, a unit of Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) today announced that it has sold substantially all of its Small Business Direct portfolio to MBNA America Bank, N.A. (NYSE:KRB). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Textron Financial's Small Business Direct division provides small businesses with unsecured revolving lines of credit up to $50,000.

This sale represents continued progress with our strategy to focus on core businesses within our portfolio in order to increase profitability and maximize value,' said Jay Carter, Textron Financial president and chief operating officer. 'In fact, with this transaction we've completed the disposition of roughly two-thirds of our non-core loans, all without sustaining a loss. This is a tremendous accomplishment for our team.

About MBNA Corporation
MBNA Corporation, a bank holding company and parent of MBNA America Bank, N.A., a national bank, is the largest independent credit card lender in the world. MBNA also provides retail deposit, consumer loan, and insurance products. MBNA.com (http://MBNA.com) provides credit card, consumer loan, retail deposit, travel and shopping services.

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 44,000 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.