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Bear Stearns and Bankers Trust have sent Starwood Lodging Trust a "highly confident letter" stating that the banks can arrange a $7.5 billion credit facility to back the company's $13.3 billion bid for ITT Corp., said Ron Brown, cfo of Starwood. The "highly confident letter" states that the two banks are optimistic they can raise the $7.5 billion, according to Brown. "We could have had a commitment letter [from the banks]," Brown said. "But then we would have had to pay [the banks] fees. As it is, we are looking into how much credit we'll take out because we are considering other options as well, such as raising equity."
Rick Smith, director of finance, said Starwood is considering two options. One...