RAIT Financial Trust

Last updated
RAIT Financial Trust
FoundedAugust 1997;23 years ago (1997-08)
Headquarters 130 West 42nd Street, New York City,
Owner Fortress Investment Group
Website www.rait.com

RAIT Financial Trust (Resource Asset Investment Trust) is a real estate investment trust owned by Fortress Investment Group that manages commercial real estate loans and properties. It is headquartered at 130 West 42nd Street, New York City. [1]

History

RAIT was founded in August 1997 by Resource America, Inc. at which time it was led by Betsy Z. Cohen. [1] [2]

In January 1998, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. [3]

In December 2006, the company merged with Taberna Financial Realty Trust. [4]

In August 2007, during the subprime mortgage crisis, the company suffered due to its exposure to American Home Mortgage. [5]

In July 2009, the company sold its residential mortgage portfolio to Angelo Gordon for $15.8 million and took a $62 million loss on the sale. [6]

In March 2014, Urban Retail Properties became a subsidiary of the company. [7]

In November 2015, the company signed a lease to move its offices from the Cira Centre. [8]

In May 2017, the company sold UBS Plaza for $14 million. [9]

In December 2018, the company sold PlazAmericas. [10]

In August 2019, after defaulting on its bonds, RAIT filed bankruptcy and agreed to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group for $174.4 million. [11]

Magnetar Capital, a hedge fund, made a competing offer to acquire the company but the offer was rejected by a judge in December 2019. [12]

Related Research Articles

PNC Financial Services Major bank based in Pittsburgh

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 21 states and the District of Columbia with 2,296 branches and 9,051 ATMs. The company also provides financial services such as asset management, wealth management, estate planning, loan servicing, and information processing.

E-Trade American financial services company

E-Trade Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, offers an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets including common stocks, preferred stocks, futures contracts, exchange-traded funds, options, mutual funds, and fixed income investments. It also provides services for employee stock ownership plans, student loan benefit administration, advisor services, margin lending, online banking, and cash management services. The company receives revenue from interest income on margin balances, commissions for order execution, payment for order flow, and management services. The company has 30 branches.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers mostly in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is an American financial services company based in New York City and listed on the Fortune 1000.

Simon Property Group International real estate investment trust founded in the United States

Simon Property Group, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It owns interests in 203 properties comprising approximately 241,000,000 square feet (22,400,000 m2) of gross leasable area in North America and Asia. For a list of notable properties owned by the company, see List of Simon Property Group properties.

CIT Group American banking and financial services company

CIT Group Inc. (CIT) is an American financial holding company and bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York City. CIT Bank, CIT's banking subsidiary, is headquartered in Pasadena, California. The company's name is an initialism of an early corporate name, Commercial Investment Trust.

Cira Centre

The Cira Centre is a 29-story, 437-foot (133 m) office high-rise in the University City section of Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a platform over rail tracks.

Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm, specializing in distressed investing. The firm is based in New York City, and run by Steve Feinberg, who co-founded Cerberus in 1992, with William L. Richter, who serves as a senior managing director. The firm has affiliate and advisory offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Northern Trust Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois that caters to corporations, institutional investors, and ultra high net worth individuals. Northern Trust is one of the largest banking institutions in the United States and one of the oldest banks in continuous operation. As of April 8, 2021, it had $5.07 trillion in assets under management and $14.8 trillion in assets under custody, and is the fourth largest bank in the world by assets under custudy. Northern Trust Corporation is incorporated in Delaware.

NetBank, formerly named Atlanta Internet Bank (1996) and Net.B@nk (1998), was a direct bank.

Novation Companies

Novation Companies, Inc.(formerly Novastar Financial, Inc.) owns and operates early-stage businesses in the technology-enabled services industry. It trades under the symbol NOVC.

Brandywine Realty Trust

Brandywine Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust that invests in office buildings in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Austin.

Fortress Investment Group American investment management firm

Fortress Investment Group is an American investment management firm based in New York City. Fortress Investment Group LLC was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by Wesley R. Edens, Rob Kauffman, and Randal Nardone. When Fortress launched on the NYSE on February 9, 2007, it was the first large private equity firm in the United States to be traded publicly. As of June 30, 2020, the firm manages approximately $45.5 billion alternative assets in private equity, liquid hedge funds and credit funds.

Cedar Realty Trust American real estate company

Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Liberty Property Trust American real estate company

Liberty Property Trust was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings and industrial properties. As of December 31, 2017, the company owned interests in 461 industrial and 48 office properties comprising 86.0 million square feet. In 2020, the company was acquired by Prologis.

Apollo Global Management American private equity firm

Apollo Global Management, Inc., is a global alternative investment manager firm. It was founded in 1990 by Leon Black, Josh Harris, and Marc Rowan. Apollo is headquartered in New York City, with offices across North America, Europe and Asia. The company's stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol 'APO'.

Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. After the financial services firm was notified of a pending credit downgrade due to its heavy position in subprime mortgages, the Federal Reserve summoned several banks to negotiate financing for its reorganization. These discussions failed, and Lehman filed a Chapter 11 petition that remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, involving more than US$600 billion in assets.

UBS Multinational investment bank

UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution in the world. UBS client services are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Because of the bank's large positions in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank.

Starwood Capital Group

Starwood Capital Group is an investment firm headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida. It is managed by Barry Sternlicht. It was co-founded by Sternlicht and Robert Faith in 1991. In 1993, Faith left Starwood to found Greystar Real Estate Partners.

Brixmor Property Group Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of 400+ open-air retail centers comprising approximately 73 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas. Brixmor is a real estate partner to approximately 5,000 retailers including The TJX Companies, The Kroger Co., Publix Super Markets, Wal-Mart, Ross Stores and L.A. Fitness. It is organized in Maryland with its headquarters in New York City.

References

  1. 1 2 "Overview". RAIT Financial Trust.
  2. Kostelni, Natalie (September 10, 2007). "Housing misery hits RAIT". American City Business Journals .
  3. "IPOs for the fearless". CNN . January 12, 1998.
  4. "RAIT merger complete". American City Business Journals . December 11, 2006.
  5. Dunham, Kemba J. (August 15, 2007). "Home-Loan Woes Hit Commercial REITs" . The Wall Street Journal .
  6. Kostelni, Natalie (July 22, 2009). "RAIT unloads loans, takes loss". American City Business Journals .
  7. "RAIT Financial Trust Acquires Retail Centers for $50.8 Million". Business Wire. September 18, 2014.
  8. Kostelni, Natalie (November 13, 2015). "RAIT Financial Trust leaving Cira Centre, wants to be back in Center City". American City Business Journals .
  9. Reilly, Mark (May 26, 2017). "UBS Plaza in St. Paul sells fetches $14 million in sale". American City Business Journals .
  10. Pulsinelli, Olivia (December 21, 2018). "Houston real estate firm buys former Sharpstown Mall". American City Business Journals .
  11. Yerak, Becky (August 31, 2019). "RAIT Financial Trust Files for Bankruptcy" . The Wall Street Journal .
  12. Yerak, Becky (December 5, 2019). "RAIT Financial Shareholders Fail to Derail Fortress Bankruptcy Bid" . The Wall Street Journal .