Wilshire Real Estate Investment Inc. Changes Name to Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc.
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2000
The New Name Reflects a Business Strategy of More
Opportunistic Investment and Structuring of
Diverse Real Estate Related Assets
Effective January 25, 2001, Wilshire Real Estate Investment Inc. (Nasdaq:WREI), an opportunistic investment group specializing in mortgage and real estate related assets, has changed its name to Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc. Also, effective February 1, 2001, the company's NASDAQ ticker symbol (currently WREI) will change to FCCG.
The name change, recently approved by the company's board of directors, is designed to reflect Fog Cutter's business strategy of opportunistically investing, structuring and managing real estate related assets such as mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine real estate loans and real estate, as well as the acquisition of companies engaged in investing in such assets.
Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc. will concentrate on the acquisition of assets where its expertise in intensive asset management, mortgage and real estate credit analysis and financial structuring can create value. Further, the Company expects that many of these assets, particularly in corporate acquisitions, will be in conjunction with partners. As a result, the Company has restructured both the asset and liability structure of its balance sheet and has begun arranging and investing in transactions steered by its planned core business.
On December 22, 2000 the Company, through a Jersey, Channel Islands subsidiary, BEP Islands Limited, and two subsidiaries of its partners (Merrill Lynch Inc. and The Greenwich Group Intl.) offered to purchase Bourne End Properties Plc, a quoted company registered in England and Wales, at 69 pence per share in cash, or approximately (pound)42 million. Bourne End is a specialist investor in retail property, currently owning nine town shopping centers in England and Scotland. The shopping centers range in size from 80,000 square feet to approximately 340,000 square feet. As of January 26, 2001, 97.45% of Bourne End shareholders had accepted the offer.
During the year ended December 31, 2000, the Company significantly reduced its mortgage backed securities related short-term, mark-to-market-based financing. Such financing has generally been replaced by two securitized, long-term, non-recourse, and non-mark-to-market-structured transactions. Additionally, the Company sold the majority of its U.S. income property portfolio. |
