Eric Miller, Group Head and Managing Director, CIT Capital Equipment Finance, offers his perspective on the importance of dealing with a lender that understands your business and its cycles.

1. Capital Equipment Finance:
The Lifeblood of Growth
View from the MiddleTM
• CIT Executive Insights
© 2015 CIT Group Inc. CIT and the CIT logo are registered service marks of CIT Group Inc.
cit.com/Miller
1
Eric Miller
Group Head and
Managing Director,
CIT Capital
Equipment Finance
Capital equipment financing has been the lifeblood of growth since the beginning of
commerce. Today, with the market flush with investment dollars, most corporate borrowers
believe they know exactly what to ask for and simply put their request out to bid.
Lenders often respond to this disbelief by offering the lowest rate to win the deal. This
approach is not without its pitfalls. One thing is for sure: every company in every industry
will experience the ups and downs of business cycles.
Recently, a large construction company in the southwest borrowed through a bank-offering
low rates. When the market retreated and their credit rating declined, the bank immediately
forced them to accept extremely onerous terms. This jeopardized their ability to remain
strong in their region.
The terms that the bank put on them caused significant liquidity stress and hampered their
ability to compete. These are the risks you take when you are dealing with a lender that
doesn’t understand your business and its cycles.
If a lender provides you with terms that aren’t commensurate to the equipment that you’re
purchasing, all you’re doing is kicking the debt down the road and these loans burden the
company long after the equipment is out-of-date.
Where I start with every client is to ask about their key metrics. “How are you measured
in your business plan? Is it EBITDA, cash flow, return on equity, top-line revenue?” From
that starting point, plus an understanding of their industry situation and the lifecycle of the
specific equipment, a more tailored solution can be developed — designed to gain more
sustainable growth—and better weather future business cycles.
Preparing for future trends and bumps in the road, like the coming FASB regulations which
will soon disallow most off-balance sheet debt, can make all the difference in a company’s
success.
Executive Biography:
Eric Miller is Group Head and Managing Director of CIT Capital Equipment Finance where
he is responsible for overseeing financing activities for large ticket equipment leasing
and lending, as well as project finance-related activities. Miller is an industry veteran with
experience in leading origination teams focused on sourcing, structuring and executing
middle market capital equipment financing transactions. During this time he has covered
companies in a wide array of diverse and unique industry sectors. Miller received his BA from
the State University of New York at Albany.
To learn more about CIT Capital Equipment Finance, visit cit.com/CapitalEquipment.
Members of the media who have an interest in speaking with Mr. Miller can contact Curt
Ritter, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, at Curt.Ritter@cit.com or Matt
Klein, Vice President of Media Relations, at Matt.Klein@cit.com. To view additional CIT
thought leadership content, please visit cit.com/viewfromthemiddle.
September 2015