The sale of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., a San Diego subprime mortgage lender, was officially completed Oct. 12, according to the buyer, Lone Star Funds, a Dallas-based equity fund.
The transaction that was first arranged June 4 for $15.10 for each Accredited share was changed last month to $11.75 after the parties settled on a compromise price. The seller and buyer had filed suits against each other in the Delaware Court of Chancery, claiming failure to comply with provisions in the original agreement.
Lone Star charged that drastic deterioration of the subprime market negated the deal, while Accredited said their contract was ironclad and would hold up in court.
In the end, Accredited accepted a 22 percent discount on the price for an aggregate $311 million.
Like all other subprime mortgage lenders, Accredited has been in turmoil since last year, stemming from a huge surge in delinquent and defaulted home loans, and difficulty in selling new loans to investment banks.
The company shut down all its lending operations last month, and continued a restructuring that cut more than 3,000 employees from its payrolls from a base at the end of last year of 4,200.
Accredited also requested its stock, traded under the ticker LEND, be delisted from Nasdaq.
, Mike Allen
