CIT Group Inc, a provider of commercial lending and leasing services, named Michael Vallorosi as managing director of CIT's Franchise Finance business and Christopher Wren as a sales vice president of its restaurant franchise finance practice.

"Mike's deep expertise in restaurant financing makes him ideally suited to lead our franchise business," said Mike Jones, managing director, CIT's Equipment Finance business. "This new position expands his current role leading CIT's large-cap franchise business to now include our mid-cap, multi-unit franchisee financing business."

Jones continued, "With this announcement, we are also excited to welcome Christopher Wren to our commercial team. Wren's extensive experience at prominent restaurant franchisors provides him with unique insights that will benefit our growth-oriented, franchisee clients. These two strategic appointments further demonstrate our commitment to bring exceptional value to our clients through our highly-experienced team who bring a history of success in assisting franchisors and franchisees."

With more than 30 years of experience in banking and more than 20 years in restaurant financing, Vallorosi joined CIT in March 2016 following a series of franchise finance leadership positions at TD Bank and First Franchise Capital Corp. (formerly Irwin Financial). He holds a Master of Business Administration from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Science from New York State University of Albany.

Wren joins CIT with more than 20 years of international experience in franchising including senior roles at YUM! and Dine Equity. Most recently, he was chief executive officer of IMO Car Wash USA based in Denver, Colorado. Wren holds a Master in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and a bachelor's from the University of Western Ontario.