LOS ANGELES — This week, Westlake Financial Services
established a new $30 million credit facility with MG Leasing Corp., a Japanese
leasing company.

Officials said the credit facility collateralizes Westlake's
auto finance receivables.

Westlake chief operating officer Paul Kerwin noted MGL is
the first Japanese finance company to partner with Westlake.

"We appreciate MGL's very competitive pricing and strong confidence
in our business plan," Kerwin said. "We are honored to say this is MGL's first
financing deal inside the United States as well as Westlake's first partnership
with a Japanese finance firm.

"With this additional liquidity, Westlake is well positioned
to expand and continue our record growth that we have been experiencing the past
25 years and into the future," Kerwin added.

MGL is a joint venture of Marubeni Corp. — which acquired a
20 percent stake in Westlake Financial Services in July of last year — and
Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., a subsidiary of a top four global
banking institution, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Atsushi Suzuki is a Westlake board member and Marubeni Corp.
representative. Suzuki explained why this latest deal was made.

"This transaction is meaningful because MGL is the first
Japanese finance company to fully understand and appreciate Westlake's unique
business model and the growing sub-prime market," Suzuki said.

"Westlake's funding structure has become even stronger compared
to competitors by adding Japanese financing," Suzuki continued. "I hope this
opportunity will continue to grow and bring even more Japanese financing to the
U.S subprime auto market."

Westlake president Ian Anderson added, "We are pleased to
have such strong financial partners like Wells Fargo, RBS, JP Morgan and
others, and diversifying our funding sources to include international finance
companies is the key to stabilizing Westlake's funding base and supporting our
expanding portfolio of services."