09/07/2017 | 08:32am EDT
RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) (“RAIT”) today announced that the Board of Trustees of RAIT (the “Board”) has formed a committee of independent members (the “Special Committee”) to explore and evaluate strategic and financial alternatives to enhance shareholder value and capitalize on RAIT’s established and respected commercial real estate lending platform. Such alternatives may include, but are not limited to, (i) refinements of RAIT’s operations or strategy, (ii) financial transactions, such as a recapitalization or other change to RAIT’s capital structure and (iii) strategic transactions, such as a sale of all or part of RAIT.
Michael Malter, Chairman of the Board and a member of the Special Committee, said, “Our Board of Trustees and management team continue to focus on executing on the current strategic plan and remain committed to maximizing value for our shareholders. After careful consideration, the Board believes now is the appropriate time to explore a broad range of strategic and financial alternatives that may have the potential to further unlock and enhance shareholder value." The other members of the Special Committee are Justin P. Klein, who serves as Chairman of the Special Committee, and Thomas D. Wren.
The Special Committee has not set a definitive timetable for completion of its evaluation, and there can be no assurances that the process will result in any change in strategy or any transaction being announced or completed. RAIT does not intend to make any further public comment regarding the evaluation until the outcome of the process is determined.
RAIT and the Special Committee have retained Barclays and UBS Investment Bank as financial advisors and Winston & Strawn LLP as legal advisor to assist in the evaluation