CIT announced the pricing of a registered public offering of $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2018.

The notes priced at par and will bear interest at a rate of 5.25%, CIT said. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of CIT and will not be guaranteed by any of CIT’s subsidiaries. CIT expects the offering to close on or about March 15, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

“This transaction is a significant milestone for CIT as it represents our first public unsecured bond issuance since 2007,” said John A. Thain, chairman and CEO. “We continue to make progress towards achieving our long-term profit objectives by reducing our funding costs.”

CIT plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and the refinancing of its outstanding 7% Series C Notes maturing in 2015, 2016 and/or 2017.

The joint bookrunning managers for the offering are Credit Suisse Securities (USA), Deutsche Bank Securities, Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities.