AIG, CIT Aircraft Leasing: Collateral Damage

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- American International Group (AIG Quote) and CIT Group (CIT Quote) may find potential buyers of their aircraft leasing businesses appear suddenly less interested than they were going into the Labor Day holiday.

That's because more assets are reported to be on the market. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS Quote) hired Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) to shop its aircraft leasing business. Reuters later followed up with a similar report, also citing anonymous sources.

Ordinarily General Electric (GE Quote) might be considered a potential buyer, but GE presumably has enough woes of its own.

Whoever does emerge as a suitor for these assets, don't expect them to pay a big price. Investors buying up shares of AIG and CIT in recent weeks should adjust their expectations accordingly.

AIG shares were down 9.95 to $36.08 in recent trading Tuesday, while CIT shares were off a penny to $1.50.

-- Written by Dan Freed in New York.