Textron Buys Assets of BankAmerica Unit

Textron Inc. said it bought the assets of Business Leasing Group, a commercial lending unit of BankAmerica Corp., as the aircraft and industrial products company expands in financial services. The transaction, for undisclosed terms, gives Providence, R.I.-based Textron $184 million in receivables from Portland, Ore.-based Business Leasing Group, a division of BankAmerica’s NationsCredit Commercial Corp. “Our strategy is to continue to grow our commercial finance business,” said Brian Sullivan, manager of financial communications at Textron. The Business Lending Group purchase provides “diversification and balance.” Textron Financial Corp., the company’s financing subsidiary, has $3.8 billion in managed receivables and is expanding in automotive equipment and machine tool financing. Business Leasing Group lends to industries that include professional office equipment, agricultural equipment and machine tools. Business Lending Group’s loans, valued at $50,000 or less each, will also diversify Textron’s transactions, which average about $100,000. Shares of Textron fell 69 cents to close at $71.06, and BankAmerica fell $2.94 to $62.50. Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.