CIT warns of bankruptcy if debt deal falls through

CIT Group (CIT), the troubled commercial lender, may be forced into bankruptcy if it can't complete a proposed deal to buy back $1 billion in debt from bondholders at a discount, it said today.

A group of CIT's bondholders has already given the company a $3 billion lifeline and don't plan on pushing the company over the brink, it said. Still, it may have few other options if it can't convince enough of its other debt investors to accept less than they're owed.