Thornburg May Sell Securities to Meet Margin Calls (Update5)
By David Mildenberg and Sal Giangrasso
Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Thornburg Mortgage Inc., the finance company that sold $21.9 billion of assets in August because of a cash shortage, said it may have to sell more securities to meet lenders' demands for increased collateral.
The company declined the most in six months in New York trading after Thornburg said it met $300 million of margin calls since Feb. 14. The move depleted available cash and reduced its ability to meet future demands for more collateral, the lender said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today.
Thornburg, a specialist in adjustable-rate loans too big to be sold to government-chartered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was one of more than 100 mortgage companies that halted lending or left the business in 2007. The company sold assets in August as U.S. foreclosures climbed to a record and investors shunned home loans. Thornburg resumed lending in September and issued $500 million in preferred shares to bolster its finances.
``The market has been in a deep freeze for anything other than Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae conforming loans,'' said David Olson, president of Wholesale Access Mortgage Research in Columbia, Maryland. ``Home prices are falling more and more rapidly, and consumer sentiment is terrible.''
Thornburg expects to be profitable this quarter and throughout this year, Chief Executive Officer Larry Goldstone said in a Bloomberg Radio interview.
The company dropped $1.78, or 15 percent, to $9.76 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has declined 61 percent in the past year.
Alt-A Declines
Bonds backed by Alt-A loans have lost 10 percent to 15 percent of their value since the end of January, leading to the margin calls on such securities, Thornburg said. Alt-A mortgages are typically made to homeowners with credit scores that are above subprime and below prime. Alt-A borrowers often have weaker documentation of their income levels than prime borrowers or have taken so-called option ARMs, with minimum payments that create growing loan balances.
``It's just a sign of the credit lockup,'' Goldstone said. ``Across the entire board, mortgage prices are lower today than they even reached last August.''
The problem worsened Feb. 14 when UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, reported a record fourth-quarter loss on $13.7 billion in writedowns on assets infected by subprime mortgages. Many investors assumed UBS would sell its holdings, prompting a sharp fall in the prices of the securities, he said.
`Market Uncertainty'
Standard & Poor's analyst Jason Willey cut his rating on Thornburg to ``hold'' from ``buy'' and reduced his price target to $10 from $14.
``We expect market uncertainty and poor demand will limit the liquidity of mortgage securities,'' Willey said in a note to investors.
Thornburg may need to cut its dividend, UBS analyst Omotayo Okusanya said in a report today. He rates the stock at ``neutral.'' Thornburg gave a 25-cent-a-share quarterly dividend on Jan. 30 after making no payment in the prior quarter.
The company previously reported a $64.8 million fourth- quarter profit, following a $1.1 billion third-quarter loss. Goldstone, in a Bloomberg TV interview on Jan. 28, called the company's shares ``a great investment market opportunity, probably the best I've seen.''
About 0.44 percent of Thornburg's loans were more than 60 days late as of Dec. 31, below the industry's average ratio of 4.2 percent on adjustable rate loans, Thornburg's filing said.
Credit Quality
Credit quality remains solid in both Thornburg's purchased securities and the loans it originates, Goldstone said. ``We haven't seen a material change in the credit quality of our portfolio,'' he said.
Thornburg raised $212 million through two stock offerings in January, including 7 million shares of common stock sold at $8 each. Texas real estate and energy investor Richard Rainwater bought a 5.5 percent stake in January.
IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the second-biggest independent U.S. mortgage company, lost 73 cents, or 10 percent, to $6.35. No. 1 Countrywide Financial Corp. fell 34 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $6.64.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net ; Sal Giangrasso New York at sgiangrasso@bloomberg.net ;
Last Updated: February 28, 2008 16:59 EST
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Oak Hill Capital Partners
Summary
Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity investment company. The Company manages capital from entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds, and global financial institutions. Oak Hill Capital invests primarily in middle-market companies. Oak Hill invests across a range of the United States and global economies with an industry-focused approach. Its professionals are organized into six groups: basic industries, business and financial services, consumer, retail and distribution, healthcare, media and telecom and technology. In March 2007, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. completed the sale of its Silicon Valley Technology Center, to Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital.
One Stamford Plaza 263 Tresser Boulevard 15th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901-3236
USA - Map
+1-203-3281600 (Phone)
Company website:
http://www.oakhillcapital.com/
News Releases, Executives
Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity investment company. The Company manages capital from entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds, and global financial institutions. Oak Hill Capital invests primarily in middle-market companies. Oak Hill invests across a range of the United States and global economies with an industry-focused approach. Its professionals are organized into six groups: basic industries, business and financial services, consumer, retail and distribution, healthcare, media and telecom and technology. In March 2007, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. completed the sale of its Silicon Valley Technology Center, to Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital.
One Stamford Plaza 263 Tresser Boulevard 15th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901-3236
USA - Map
+1-203-3281600 (Phone)
Company website:
http://www.oakhillcapital.com/
News Releases, Executives
Oak Hill Capital Partners traces its roots to Robert M. Bass, one of the four brothers who founded Bass Brothers Enterprises in Fort Worth, Texas. In the 1980s, Robert M. Bass formed an independent firm to invest his private equity capital. From 1986 to 1998, the firm directed more than 26 transactions, representing investments of more than $1.2 billion of equity capital. In 1999, with Mr. Bass as the lead investor, the firm launched Oak Hill Capital Partners, L.P., which became the successor vehicle for all of the firm's private equity activity. This fund was formed with $1.6 billion in capital commitments and invested in 18 portfolio companies. In 2005, Oak Hill closed Oak Hill Capital Partners II, L.P. with $2.5 billion in capital commitments.
Preferred Long-Term Partner
Oak Hill's unique heritage supports a culture that embraces long-term partnerships. For over 20 years, Mr. Bass and the Oak Hill team have developed a reputation as value-added, high integrity partners. We understand the challenges often faced by entrepreneurs, management teams, and corporations and work collaboratively to create customized solutions for complex situations. Given Oak Hill's heritage as a family office, we are particularly adept at developing efficient tax structures and inter-generational wealth transfer strategies to help entrepreneurs and managers meet both financial and non-financial objectives. As a result of our long history of working with major corporations, we are particularly knowledgeable and sensitive to the tax, accounting, and operational needs of large companies.
Oak Hill offers strategic insight, value-added support, and leverage to portfolio company management teams, with a particular emphasis on:
Developing the action plan to execute against the strategic vision
Providing capital support and implementing creative financial structures
Analyzing merger and acquisition opportunities and risks
Recruiting talented executives to augment the existing team
Applying structuring and capital markets expertise
Optimizing value realization
Preferred Long-Term Partner
Oak Hill's unique heritage supports a culture that embraces long-term partnerships. For over 20 years, Mr. Bass and the Oak Hill team have developed a reputation as value-added, high integrity partners. We understand the challenges often faced by entrepreneurs, management teams, and corporations and work collaboratively to create customized solutions for complex situations. Given Oak Hill's heritage as a family office, we are particularly adept at developing efficient tax structures and inter-generational wealth transfer strategies to help entrepreneurs and managers meet both financial and non-financial objectives. As a result of our long history of working with major corporations, we are particularly knowledgeable and sensitive to the tax, accounting, and operational needs of large companies.
Oak Hill offers strategic insight, value-added support, and leverage to portfolio company management teams, with a particular emphasis on:
Developing the action plan to execute against the strategic vision
Providing capital support and implementing creative financial structures
Analyzing merger and acquisition opportunities and risks
Recruiting talented executives to augment the existing team
Applying structuring and capital markets expertise
Optimizing value realization
Friday, February 1, 2008
Florence County , South Carolina
Tourism assessment calls for Florence County to brand itself with ?Swamp Fox? image
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008 - 08:49 PM
Florence County has a chance to quadruple its tourism earnings through a branding campaign based on Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion — an estimated $35 million investment, according to a tourism assessment revealed Thursday.
Additional suggested attractions included a NASCAR simulator at the nearby Darlington Raceway and converting tobacco barns into “distinctive” lodging.
“Tourism is the sleeping giant in our economy,” said Ben Zeigler, chairman of the Florence County Tourism Study Committee.
Peter MacNulty of the Irish company Tourism Development International, which performed the tourism assessment, discussed ways to bring tourism dollars to the county Thursday at the Lake City Community Museum at the Bean Market.
One million people visited Florence County in 2005 and spent $200 million, which MacNulty said he hopes can quadruple within a decade.
The assessment touts the county’s culture and heritage.
“I call it a sense of place,” said Lake City native Darla Moore, vice president of Rainwater Inc. “Rather than our history condemning us, we can come together to celebrate.”
Florence County has a strategic location in the state, MacNulty said, but its marketing on Interstates 20 and 95 is inadequate.
Therefore, the assessment includes a proposal to brand the county as “Swamp Fox Country.” Projects would include the Swamp Fox Experience, east of Florence near Francis Marion University, which would offer an educational and entertainment experience.
Also included are a Francis Marion Center in Florence, a genealogical tracing facility and the Francis Marion Trail.
The image of the Swamp Fox will abound, MacNulty said.
“It will be in your face,” he said.
The trail from Marion County to Florence, Pamplico and Johnsonville will give mom-and-pop businesses a chance to link with a common branding initiative.
MacNulty also said the area has “too many” tourism organizations.
Of the eight organizations, he suggested combining the Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau with the Pee Dee Tourism Commission. In addition, he recommended establishing a tourism development committee, a public- and private-sector body to put the tourism plan into place.
Other proposals include:
n Re-enactments of auctions at the Lake City museum as well as a real-life market
n Lynches River boat trips
n “Eco lodges” near the Great Pee Dee River’s banks and in the treetops at Lynches River County Park
n Downtown revitalization in Florence and a “green path” connecting attractions throughout the city
n Better signage and welcome signs to make Florence’s gateway roads more attractive
n An improved visitors center
Lake City Mayor Lovith Anderson Jr. said he’s excited by the prospects and how the announcement of the results brought people from across the Pee Dee together Thursday night.
“That’s major,” he said. “I’m proud to see that.”
County council chairman Rusty Smith said it’s a viable project, although the cost will be high.
“I think that it’s a very worthwhile endeavor and something that requires very careful consideration,” he said.
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008 - 08:49 PM
Florence County has a chance to quadruple its tourism earnings through a branding campaign based on Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion — an estimated $35 million investment, according to a tourism assessment revealed Thursday.
Additional suggested attractions included a NASCAR simulator at the nearby Darlington Raceway and converting tobacco barns into “distinctive” lodging.
“Tourism is the sleeping giant in our economy,” said Ben Zeigler, chairman of the Florence County Tourism Study Committee.
Peter MacNulty of the Irish company Tourism Development International, which performed the tourism assessment, discussed ways to bring tourism dollars to the county Thursday at the Lake City Community Museum at the Bean Market.
One million people visited Florence County in 2005 and spent $200 million, which MacNulty said he hopes can quadruple within a decade.
The assessment touts the county’s culture and heritage.
“I call it a sense of place,” said Lake City native Darla Moore, vice president of Rainwater Inc. “Rather than our history condemning us, we can come together to celebrate.”
Florence County has a strategic location in the state, MacNulty said, but its marketing on Interstates 20 and 95 is inadequate.
Therefore, the assessment includes a proposal to brand the county as “Swamp Fox Country.” Projects would include the Swamp Fox Experience, east of Florence near Francis Marion University, which would offer an educational and entertainment experience.
Also included are a Francis Marion Center in Florence, a genealogical tracing facility and the Francis Marion Trail.
The image of the Swamp Fox will abound, MacNulty said.
“It will be in your face,” he said.
The trail from Marion County to Florence, Pamplico and Johnsonville will give mom-and-pop businesses a chance to link with a common branding initiative.
MacNulty also said the area has “too many” tourism organizations.
Of the eight organizations, he suggested combining the Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau with the Pee Dee Tourism Commission. In addition, he recommended establishing a tourism development committee, a public- and private-sector body to put the tourism plan into place.
Other proposals include:
n Re-enactments of auctions at the Lake City museum as well as a real-life market
n Lynches River boat trips
n “Eco lodges” near the Great Pee Dee River’s banks and in the treetops at Lynches River County Park
n Downtown revitalization in Florence and a “green path” connecting attractions throughout the city
n Better signage and welcome signs to make Florence’s gateway roads more attractive
n An improved visitors center
Lake City Mayor Lovith Anderson Jr. said he’s excited by the prospects and how the announcement of the results brought people from across the Pee Dee together Thursday night.
“That’s major,” he said. “I’m proud to see that.”
County council chairman Rusty Smith said it’s a viable project, although the cost will be high.
“I think that it’s a very worthwhile endeavor and something that requires very careful consideration,” he said.
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