Levitt sets subscription price in rights offering for up to 100 million shares

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Aug. 27 - Levitt Corp. set a subscription price of $2.00 for its proposed rights offering of up to 100,000,000 shares of its class A common stock.

The amount of subscription rights to be distributed for each outstanding share of Levitt's common stock will be determined based on the total number of outstanding shares as of Aug. 27.

Shareholders electing to exercise their subscription rights in full may also subscribe for additional shares of Levitt's class A common stock that remain unsubscribed for at the expiration of the rights offering at $2.00 per share under their respective over-subscription privileges.

"After considering the capital needs of the company and the current low trading price of the stock, the board concluded that proceeding with a rights offering was the fairest alternative to the Levitt shareholders for raising equity," chairman and chief executive officer Alan B. Levan said in a company news release.

"In addition to avoiding the additional costs of an underwritten equity offering, a rights offering will give Levitt's shareholders the opportunity to participate on a pro rata basis and maintain their ownership position, neither of which would be the case in an underwritten equity offering."

Levitt's stock (NYSE: LEV) closed at $2.33 on Friday.

On Aug. 15, BFC Financial Corp. terminated its merger agreement with Levitt in the belief that closing conditions could not be met. Levitt's board decided to proceed with a previously announced rights offering with participation by BFC.

It was previously reported that under the companies' definitive merger agreement, BFC would make Levitt a wholly owned subsidiary in a transaction worth an estimated $286 million and expected to close during the second quarter of 2007. The agreement called for holders of Levitt's class A common stock to receive 2.27 shares of BFC class A common stock for each of their Levitt class A shares.

At the time of the merger announcement, BFC, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based private investment firm, owned 17% of Levitt, consisting of all of Levitt's class B common stock and about 11% of the company's class A common stock.

Levitt is a homebuilding and real estate development company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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