The Maguire board has also named two other Rising Realty Partners executives to posts with the REIT, Douglas Gardner as an executive vice president and Rising's son Christopher Rising as a senior vice president. It has named Walter Weisman as chairman of the board, succeeding Maguire. The board has named Maguire to the newly created title of chairman emeritus, a position that "does not entitle Mr. Maguire to any authority or responsibility with respect to the management or operation of the REIT," according to a public filing by Maguire this morning.
The executive shakeup follows a recent bid by Rob Maguire to acquire 75% of the company he founded after the REIT sought an outside buyer but could not find one. His bid was rebuffed by a special committee that was formed last year to look for buyers after pressure from shareholders to improve the REIT's performance.
Maguire has withdrawn that bid, which he offered to finance by selling all of the office REIT's properties except its Orange County holdings. The Orange County holdings are considered cause for concern because that county's office market has suffered tremendously from the subprime mortgage meltdown.
Along with naming a new executive team, the Maguire board has suspended the company's dividend, a move that analysts have considered inevitable in light of mounting losses. For the latest quarter, the REIT reported a loss of $48.6 million, or $1.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $12.6 million and 27 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2007.
Nelson Rising, before his 11-year tenure with Catellus, spent 10 years as a senior partner with Maguire Thomas Partners, a predecessor to Maguire Properties. He is also a former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and chairman emeritus of the Real Estate Roundtable.
The public filing by Maguire this morning says that Nelson Rising will receive an annual base salary of $950,000, Gardner will be paid $450,000 and Christopher Rising's salary will be $325,000, subject to increases and bonuses. As chairman emeritus, Maguire will receive a lump-sum cash payment of $2.8 million and will be paid "$750,000 per year to defray the costs of maintaining an office in a location other than the REIT's offices and the cost of services of two assistants and a driver," according to this morning's filing.
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