Legg to incur $500M in quarterly charges
Baltimore asset manager Legg Mason said late Monday it expects to incur charges of $523 million before taxes in its quarter-to-date operating results to provide additional support to four money market funds invested in troubled asset-backed securities.
Legg has increased by $420 million the maximum amount it has pledged under agreements to support four funds that bought structured investment vehicles, or SIVs.
SIVs issue short-term debt to fund the purchase of longer-term investments, looking to profit from the difference between the cost of funding and the yield on the investments. The mortgage and credit crisis have wreaked havoc on SIVs.
As of Nov. 30, the par value of SIV exposure in the funds was $2.8 billion, down from $10 billion as of Oct. 31, 2007, according to Legg.
Constellation: Bankruptcy possible if merger fails
A failure by investors to approve a $4.7 billion merger deal later this month could result in “material challenges for continued business operations,” Baltimore-based Constellation Energy said in a presentation to shareholders filed with federal regulators Tuesday.
In the presentation, the company said it would be forced to pay MidAmerican $593 million in break-up fees and refunds of its stock issued to the Iowa company. Those payments are among $1.4 billion in cash Constellation said it would lose if the merger fails.
Shareholders are set to vote on the deal on Dec. 23.
Struever Bros. puts Tide Point up for sale
Baltimore developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse has put Tide Point up for sale for $102 million.
The commercial project includes more than a half a million square feet of office space, occupied by companies Under Armour, Advertising.com and Struever Bros. itself.
Tide Point is listed on the Web site of commercial broker CB Richard Ellis, represented by brokers Jonathan Beard and Robert “Bo” Cashman. The property is listed as 100 percent occupied.
The sale announcement was first reported by the Baltimore Business Journal.
