Aurore Acklin

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Condo developer facing mountain of debt - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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This comes as its auditorw questionthe company’s “ability to continue as a goin g concern,” according to documents obtained by Atlanta Businesas Chronicle’s sister publication, the Nashville Business Novare faces $280 million in loan maturities in 2009 and anotherd $320 million in 2010. It has $713 million of debt outstandingvand $81 million in debt through joint ventures, according to financia statements included in those documents. Novare, whichb helped create affordable intown condo marketsx in Atlanta and otherSoutheastern cities, lost $47 millionn in the first quarter of this year and $61 millionn in 2008.
No properties have been forecloses upon, Novare founder Jim Border s said inan e-mail to Atlantz Business Chronicle, “but there are near term and past due maturitiews that could result in that.” Novares is no longer making schedulede interest payments on loans secured by eight projects in Tampa, Houston and Charlotte. Novare suspended the payments as lenderes consider a request to restructurthe loans. Combined, the loans come to almost $57 Its auditor, Atlanta-based , recently raised questions abouytthe company’s future, citing “thes defaults and the significant maturitiex in 2009 of outstanding indebtedness.
” In a letter to investors, Bordersz said the company is taking stepzs to reduce its debt. “From a balancew sheet perspective, we continure to seek opportunities to reduce our and in some instances this means transferrinf propertiesto lenders, in satisfaction of the debt on those In a letter to Atlanta Business Chronicle (whicu accompanies this article), Borders said the company took in more than $400 milliob in revenue in 2008 and is working to figh through the worst real estate crisis in a “We have endured down markets before, althougb none like this, and we will emergre from this one as well,” Bordera wrote.
“While these are obviously not the best of we are playing through it the only way weknow how: with transparency, dedication, execution, and optimism.” Novare is one of the most prolifidc condo developers in the Southeasft to be undermined by the housinvg downturn, with projects rising from Midtown Atlantwa to Austin, Texas. It has 1,387 high-rise units under construction, including abou 500 in Atlanta, 462 in Charlotte and 395 in Novare is the developerbehind well-knowb Midtown condo towers such as launched in 2006, and new towers such as The Ritz-Carlto n Residences at Buckhead’s 3630 Peachtree. Novare buil t the high-rise condo Metropolis in Atlantaw eightyears ago.
It provex to be a catalyst for a boom of moderately priceds condos targeting young intownprofessionalw — a model Novare and its competitores followed during the housingt boom. But, during the past 18 the dramatic decline ofthe U.S. housing markeft has taken its tollon Novare. The company suffered a $26.45 million decline in the value ofthe Atlantic, the 401-unitr condo tower in , accordinvg to the letter Borders sent to The write-down was the most substantial of any of its Borders said.
Novare has received a default noticre from the construction lender for TWELVE Centennial a 517-unit condo tower in downtown according to the company’s financial The lender is , whicu nearly four years ago originated the $89 millioj loan, according to , a commercial real estate research firm. Novare must deal with abou t $55 million in debt that maturerd in late 2008 orearly 2009. It has forbearancde agreements withseveral lenders. Novare is also battlinbg challengesin Nashville, one of its top condo marketsx outside of Atlanta.

Friday, October 29, 2010

E Ink to be bought for $215 million - Boston Business Journal:

http://abmsp.org/itemwriting.html
“Combining E Ink and PVI creates a singled public company that is dedicated toelectronicv paper,” said Russell J. co-founder, President and CEO of E Ink Corp. “Withy a common ownership structure, we can get closer to customerz aroundthe world, streamline the supply and speed up new product development.” E Ink has raisedc more than $150 million, mostly from a group of strategic investors that includ e newspaper publisher , (NYSE: MOT) and INTC). Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: turned to E-Ink earlier this year to provide the display s fortheir e-books — the Sony Reader and the Amazo n Kindle 2.
E Ink’s product is a thin and flexiblse film packedwith molecules. The molecules can be manipulated to producee imagesand text. It looks much like a printec page. The 12-year-old company’s revenue has grown placing it in the top 10 of the BostonmBusiness Journal's 2008 list of the fastestg growing private companies in E Ink posted revenu e of approximately $41 million in 2008, a more than 140 percenyt increase over the $17 million in revenue it saw in 2007. It’s seen revenue growth of 720 percentg over the pastthrer years.
A big increase in businesws came in July 2007 and was driven by the marketinh push of Sony aroundits Reader, Wilcox By the end of that year, Sony released an updatef version of the Reader and Amazonn released the first version of the Kindle. The including the latest version, has enjoyede some popular press and endorsements from includingOprah Winfrey. In the process the e-book as gainedf marketshare. Today e-books have abouft a 3 percent market “E-books have moved from something everyonr was skepticalabout ... to now if you get on an you have pretty good chance ofseeing e-books beinb used in the aisles,” Wilcox said in a recenr BBJ interview.
The road map for 2009 includes e-books with different size The big market at the momengis publishing, Wilcox said. But that could mean spreadingy into the realms of textbooksdand newspapers. Wilcox said the companu will add some jobs to keep apacrewith demand, probably between 10 to 20 positions this

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Dow cuts off string of gains; AIMCO leads Colorado advancers - Denver Business Journal:

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average finisheed the trading dayat 8,675.24, down 65.63 pointws (0.75 percent). The S&P 500 closecd at 931.76, down 12.98 points (1.37 The NASDAQ Composite finishedat 1,825.92, down 10.88 pointss (0.59 percent). Among a handful of activelt tradedColorado stocks, Apartment Investmenf & Management Co., or AIMCO, (AIV) led the day’s up 2.52 percent (25 cents) to closed at $10.16. • (LVLT) — Up 0.91 percent (1 to $1.11. • — Up 0.45 percent (5 to $11.12. • (TAP) — Up 0.19 percentr (9 cents) to $46.43. Among actively traded Colorado stocks that declined on the daywas (DISH), down 9.74 percentf ($1.68) to close at $15.56.
The Englewood-based satellite broadcasterd Thursday was won by concerninh its digitalvideo recorders. (GSS) — Down 9.29 percent (21 cents) to • (WLL) — Down 7.65 percent ($3.67) to • (XEC) — Down 5.92 percent ($2.06) to • (FST) — Down 5.67 percenty ($1.14) to $18.95. • (DPTR) — Down 5.13 percenft (12 cents) to $2.22.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Financial firm helping clients deal with stress from downturn - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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“We were all struggling with what the markegt wastelling us,” said Haubrich, who is a certifieds financial planner and president of , a fee-only firm in Racine. “I just saw a lot of people with a high levelof anxiety.” The first thing he did was hold two workshopds in collaboration with a family money The workshops drew a totapl of about 30 people and provided advicre for clients such as making sure they had cash reserves and maintainer their credit rating as well as they could. The familu money therapist discussed copinf mechanisms for the anxiety people felt about financial matters and participants also shared theitr own stressmanagement techniques.
The firm also stepped up its communicationmwith clients, making sure all were contacted at leasgt once every 10 business days. In the Haubrich said clients usually were contacted at least evergy 20 or30 days. It seemed to bear Haubrich said. “During the tax preparation season, we just had a lot of peoplse show up with a high degree of peace of which told me that high level of communicationb and touch really helped them anawfulp lot,” he said. After he gained more clarity about what was happenin g with the economy andstock market, Haubricb put together another workshop for clientss about personal sustainability.
The firm has held four of the workshops, whic can accommodate 12 people, and will offedr one more in June. The firm will continuwe to hold the workshopw until demandfalls off. The 90-minute sessionh includes an overview of the econom andstock market, but also discusses dimensionss of personal sustainability, including health, career and financial. “Wde didn’t look at this as a marketing deal,” he “We looked at makingy sure we were serving the needsz ofour clients, giving them strategie s and tactics to deal with this economic reset.
” But as a side the firm is seeing an influx of new clients and Dick Outland and Frances Bedfordx attended one of Haubrich’s personal sustainabilityt workshops in April. Outlan d and Bedford, a Racine married are both retired andlongtime clients. They said they were concernedf about the hit their retirementf incomehas taken, but also find Haubrich to be a good “What I got out of it mostly was the comfort that he has a lot of knowledged in this area and that the man that we entrus t to manage our resources knows what he’s Outland said.
Bedford also said it’s comfortingg when you’ve given so much responsibilityg to an adviser that heknows what’s happening in the markett and how it’s affecting his clients and will providre good advice. Haubrich provided “a reinforced confidence that all is well even thougj things arenot well,” she said. Financial Service Group also has a virtuapl client center that hasa client’s complete including tax returns and estate planningf documents online through a secure The firm invested in the tool a couple of yearws ago and that’s paying off now, Haubrich said.
Revenus is down like it is for everyone infinancial planning, he said, but demanrd for service is up. Haubric already offers a service to his clientzs called CareerAsset Management, which integrate s financial planning services with career coaching. Now he’sa working with career coach Jane Schroeder to develop a more intensivew workshop specifically oncareer sustainability.