Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- IStar Financial Inc., the commercial real estate lender seeking to restructure some of its $8.6 billion of debt, may seek bankruptcy protection after creditors blocked it from amending loans, said people with knowledge of the plan. IStar plunged as much as 25 percent. The company expects to begin meeting with creditors in coming weeks to discuss potential terms of a so-called pre- packaged bankruptcy, which wouldnât occur until sometime next year, said the people who asked not to be identified because the plan isnât public. IStar, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Sugarman, hasnât yet held talks with creditors on a possible bankruptcy. That process is likely to begin as soon as next month, the people said. http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4fv6x3D8Xb0&pos=4 More to come ?
I actually bought this stock in 2008 for $1.01 per share and sold it the next year for around $3.50 (right before the run past $7) I remember them selling their properties and buying back the bonds for pennies on the dollar. For instance I remember they sold one property at a 30% loss then used those proceeds to buy back a bond that was trading at less than 40 cents of face value so they were actually making money that way. I havent followed SFI for a while though now, but they seems like they were some pretty smart guys there running the show and seemed to have a handle on things except for having trouble getting refinancing. I havent looked into SFI for a while, but I think this prepackaged bankruptcy is just a way to strong arm the lenders into refinancing their debt with bankrupcty scare tactics.