Thursday, March 20, 2008
BANKRUPTCY
Carlyle Capital Said to Be Insolvent
The liquidator of Carlyle Capital said shareholders are unlikely to receive any money because the company's "substantial" liabilities exceed its assets.
Carlyle Capital, a publicly traded affiliate of District-based Carlyle Group that is incorporated on Guernsey, an island in the English Channel, "is currently considered to have insufficient assets to match its liabilities," liquidators from Begbies Traynor said. "Shareholders are unlikely to receive any distribution upon final winding up of the company's affairs."
Lenders seized Carlyle Capital's assets after it failed to meet more than $400 million of margin calls on mortgage-backed collateral that had plunged in value.
In all, the fund used about $670 million of equity to amass a $22 billion portfolio of mortgage debt.
LEGALCase Dismissed Against Legg Mason
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Legg Mason in which the second-largest publicly traded U.S. fund company was accused of deceiving investors about a 2005 asset swap with Citigroup.
The investors said Baltimore-based Legg Mason sold shares in a secondary stock offering without disclosing problems related to its $3.7 billion takeover of Citigroup's investment-fund unit.
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the investors had not alleged enough facts in their complaint for the case to proceed.
FILINGSSunrise Deadline Extended
The New York Stock Exchange gave Sunrise Senior Living another week to file its 2006 annual report, but an analyst says the retirement community operator has at least two months before it faces delisting.
On Wednesday, the New York Stock Exchange extended until Monday Sunrise's deadline to file its Form 10-K. Previously, the deadline was March 17.
Sunrise Senior Living of McLean delayed the filing because it is investigating its accounting practices.
William Blair analyst Ryan Daniels said Sunrise has more time, however. He said the company can request a review if the NYSE moves to delist its shares.
It can file its 10-K while it waits for the review.
INVESTORSMedia General Resists Nominees
Media General chief executive Marshall Morton said directors nominated by dissident investor Harbinger Capital Partners aren't qualified and shouldn't be elected to the company's board.
"Harbinger's self-serving action has created a costly and counterproductive distraction for the company," Morton said in a letter to shareholders of the Richmond company.
Harbinger, a New York hedge fund, is Media General's second-largest shareholder with an 18.2 percent stake.
Media General owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Tampa Tribune, among other newspapers and broadcast stations.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
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