Wizard franchisees have been told that potential buyers for the business have approached GE Money, but that founder and chairman Mark Bouris is not one of them. GE chief executive Mike Cutter would not say if any of the interested parties were banks, only that everyone will be engaged in the sale process. Mr Bouris re-stated his position that he does not have the funds to make an independent offer to buy back the business that he sold to GE in 2004, but that he would be open to assisting or facilitating the sale. While not going into details, Mr Cutter confirmed speculation that Wizard would look at loosening credit standards, lower fees and possibly change mortgage insurance providers in an attempt to boost new business. Wizard has seen business volumes drop the same as many non-bank lenders who are struggling to provide competitive rates due to higher funding costs.
