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HARTFORD-CBRE Realty Finance, a commercial real estate specialty finance company that is based here and is sponsored by Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis, has raised $160 million in an IPO scheduled to close today. Realty Finance, which has gone public after more than two years as a private firm, is in a quiet period in connection with the IPO, but as GlobeSt.com reported previously, the firm says in its SEC filings that it plans to operate as a REIT.

The newly public company, which trades under the symbol CBF, launched at an offering price of $14.50 and closed at $15.14 on Monday. The IPO was underwritten by Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Citigroup, Wachovia Securities and JMP Securities, with Los Angeles-based law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and New York-based Clifford Chance acting as legal advisers.

The company says that it plans to use all of the net proceeds from the stock sale to repay debt under financing agreements with Wachovia Bank N.A., an affiliate of Wachovia Capital Markets, one of its underwriters. The financing agreements are known as warehouse facilities, which typically are loans made to investors who invest in other loans or securities and then pledge those securities and loans as collateral to the warehouse lender.

Realty Finance was formed by CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and subsidiary LJ Melody & Co. As reported previously on GlobeSt.com, the net proceeds of a private placement of 20 million shares of common stock to institutional and accredited investors last year raised $300 million for the company.

According to the final Realty Finance prospectus for its IPO, the company's investment portfolio of approximately $1 billion as of Aug. 31 consisted of assets primarily located in four regions of the US. Approximately 27.1% of the investments were located in the East, approximately 27.4% in the South, 31.3% in the West and 9.2% in the Midwest. The remaining 5% is spread out throughout the US.

The company is managed and advised by CBRE Realty Finance Management LLC, an indirect subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis Inc. and a direct subsidiary of CBRE Melody & Co. CBRE is the investment banking division of CB Richard Ellis.

Ray Wirta, the former CEO and current vice chairman of CB Richard Ellis Inc., is the chairman of CBRE Realty Finance. Keith Gollenberg, a former Cigna Investment Management Capital Markets Group executive, is the company's president and CEO.

Instant Insights /

CBRE Realty Finance IPO Raises $160M

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