Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Continued Expansion in Western Canada and Acquisition of …

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire -02/29/12)- Allied Properties REIT (TSX: AP.UN) announced today that it has entered into agreements to purchase the following properties for $46.7 million:

Total   Office   Retail
Address                               GLA      GLA      GLA  Parking Spaces
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Woodstone Building, Calgary        31,023   31,023                       20
535 Yates Street, Victoria         19,030   12,718    6,312               0
5445 de Gaspe Avenue, Montreal    502,693  502,693                      150
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Total                             552,746  546,434    6,312             170
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“This is a good start to our 2012 program, one that builds well on last year’s efforts,” said Michael Emory, President & CEO. “The Woodstone Building opens up a new sub-market for us in Calgary, whereas 535 Yates Street adds to our foothold in Victoria. 5445 de Gaspe Avenue in Montreal is a great compliment to 5455 de Gaspe Avenue, a large-scale upgrade property we acquired last year.”
Calgary Acquisition
Located in Inglewood, the Woodstone Building (1207 & 1215 – 13th Street S.E.) is a Class I property comprised of 31,023 square feet of GLA and 20 surface parking spaces. It is 100% leased to tenants consistent in character and quality with Allied’s tenant base. Built in 1911 as a wood mill, the property was extensively restored and renovated for office use in 2009. It is on the Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources maintained by the City of Calgary. Inglewood was established in 1875, not long after Fort Calgary was built. Known initially as Brewery Flats, it officially received the name of Inglewood in 1911 and has since evolved into a destination shopping and creative district. It has Class I office inventory of approximately 350,000 square feet.
Victoria Acquisition
Located on Yates Street, between Wharf and Government Streets, 535 Yates Street is a restored heritage property comprised of 19,030 square feet of GLA. It is 92% leased to tenants consistent in character and quality with our tenant base. Built in the early 1900s, the property was extensively restored and renovated in the 1970s and again in 2009. It is a designated heritage property by the City of Victoria.
Montreal Acquisition
Allied acquired 5455 de Gaspe Avenue in June of last year because of its strategic location in Montreal’s Plateau region and its significant, near-term upgrade potential. 5445 de Gaspe is the adjacent property to the south. It is a Class I property comprised of 502,693 square feet of GLA and 150 underground parking spaces. It is currently 97% leased to a large number of smaller tenants at low rents. While carrying 5455 de Gaspe as a rental property, Allied plans to upgrade the building and the tenant-base with a view to boosting the annual net operating income (“NOI”) materially over a five-year period.
Closing and Financing of Acquisitions
The acquisitions are expected to close in late March and early April of 2012, subject to customary conditions. The purchase price for the three properties represents a capitalization rate of 7.5% applied to the annual NOI. On closing, the properties will be free and clear of mortgage financing. Allied will place first mortgage financing on the properties as soon after closing as possible with a view to locking-in the currently favourable cost of debt. On closing of the acquisitions and anticipated mortgage financings, Allied will continue to have a very conservative debt ratio and significant internal liquidity and acquisition capacity.
Cautionary Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to Allied, its operations, strategy, financial performance and condition. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward looking words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, intends”, “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of Allied discussed herein could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations, including that the transactions contemplated herein are completed. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, changes in government regulations and the factors described under “Risk Factors” in Allied’s Annual Information Form, which is available at www.sedar.com. These cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to Allied and persons acting on Allied’s behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the parties have no obligation to update such statements.
“Capitalization rate” is not a measure recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Capitalization rate is presented in this press release because management of Allied believes that this non-IFRS measure is relevant in interpreting the purchase price of the properties being acquired. Capitalization rate, as computed by Allied, may differ from similar computations as reported by other similar organizations and, accordingly, may not be comparable to capitalization rate reported by such organizations.
NOI is not a measure recognized under IFRS and does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. NOI is presented in this press release because management of Allied believes that this non-IFRS measure is relevant in interpreting the purchase price of the property being acquired. NOI, as computed by Allied, may differ from similar computations as reported by other similar organizations and, accordingly, may not be comparable to NOI reported by such organizations.
Allied Properties REIT is a leading owner, manager and developer of urban office environments that enrich experience and enhance profitability for business tenants operating in Canada’s major cities. Its objectives are to provide stable and growing cash distributions to unitholders and to maximize unitholder value through effective management and accretive portfolio growth.
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Anxiety to repay biz loans may weaken DOLE program

by Jeremaiah M. Opiniano, OFW Journalism Consortium

PASAY CITY – A months-old program handing out business loans to returning migrant workers does not require collateral from borrowers, and a finance expert thinks borrowers might encounter uneasiness to repay these loans.
The P2 billion Reintegration Fund for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hands out loans ranging from P200,000 to P2 million to existing migrant entrepreneurs. But microfinance specialist Jun Perez is worried that required documents returning OFWs must present and frequently show might give borrowers hesitation to repay.
The context here, said the managing director of the microfinance network Seed Finance Corp., is the size of the enterprises vis-à-vis returning OFWs’ abilities to repay.
The loan range implies that borrowers run small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Meanwhile, lenders Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will require OFW borrowers to show documents related to their enterprises, such as purchase orders and titles to equipment purchased. There’s no collateral required for this loan program.
And this is where Perez’s view comes in about borrowers’ “compunction,” or a person’s strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt.
Borrowers running SMEs have to title their properties just to secure their loans, though the situation might not be applicable to those running sari-sari (small retail) stores or buy-and-sell ventures. Titling these properties entails costs, in the hope that with the titling the enterprise grows. With such growth the enterprise will now institutionalize having purchase orders (like sari-sari stores) like what usual businesses have.
Then the uneasiness comes in since running the business, producing the titles and business-related documents, and repaying the loans all come into play for the OFW borrower. In such a situation, the scheme of not requiring collateral for these SME loans “might be disadvantageous to the banks (DBP and LBP),” Perez said.
The Reintegration Fund represents the new scheme of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) to hand out livelihood loans to overseas workers. No less than President Aquino III ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to roll out this program.
But years of previous livelihood programs handled by OWWA, whether handled alone or in collaboration with financial institutions such as the National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC), have histories of high non-repayment rates by OFW borrowers.
Risks
The fund has P0.5 billion each from Land Bank and DBP, as well as a guarantee amount of P1 billion from OWWA (the world’s largest migrant welfare fund whose resources come from US$25 membership fees that departing overseas workers pay on a per-contract basis).
Officials of Land Bank and DBP explained during the fund’s launch months ago that both banks will offer an interest rate of only 7.5 percent to each of the loans, payable from two to seven years.
The loans, said Land Bank’s Cressida Mendoza and DBP’s Brillo Reynes during the congress, will make up 80 percent of the total capital needed by the enterprise. There’s also a catch: The businesses to be financed by these loans “must be earning”.
That way, said Mendoza, the situation “will be mutually beneficial to the OFW and to the bank”.
NRCO director Vivian Tornea said in a DOLE release that while there’s no collateral, loan applicants must “guarantee the business enterprise… is viable and profitable —or earning, say, like P10,000 a month”.
Actually, Perez and another development finance expert, Hector de Pedro of the nonprofit Mandato Inc., think both LBP and DBP have proven track records in handing out these reintegration loans.
It’s just that the image of these banks as part of the “government” that worries both Perez and de Pedro. Government-run lending programs “fail,” de Pedro thinks, because “the (word) government is literally synonymous to the word dole out —and the approaches of some agencies do not breed entrepreneurs”.
Thus, Perez said the Reintegration Fund’s implementation “must maintain the discipline and conviction that it must be sustainable, thus must support clearly-viable or potentially viable (enterprises) with community impact”.
Not surprisingly, the Reintegration Fund leaves those OFWs planning to launch start-up enterprises by the wayside—similar to how banks offer loans to existing ventures (but not to start-ups).
The upside of this regulation by DBP and LBP is that government invests its loan resources on proven practices, and that means all figures are (easily) given. Still, new business models coming from OFW enterprise start-ups may not be developed “because there is no support,” said de Pedro.
Repayment
The issue of repayment has haunted previous livelihood programs of OWWA, the most recent of which was the loans OWWA and the NRCO issued to OFWs displaced by the global economic crisis in 2009.
Previous OWWA and NRCO programs on reintegration saw OWWA directly providing these services, especially loans (even if OWWA is not a quasi-financial institution). OWWA also has a running Livelihood Development Program for OFWs (LDPO), in coordination with the National Livelihood Development Corporation —though information is not available on the nationally-run loan program’s repayment performance.
During a press conference after the fund’s launch, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz told the OFW Journalism Consortium that OWWA “will exert extra efforts” to monitor borrowers’ repayment of their loans. Handling loans “is not OWWA’s forte,” Cruz adds, justifying DOLE’s partnership with LandBank and DBP. The partnership sees OWWA’s share to the Reintegration Fund as a guarantee fund in case of non-repayment, Cruz told reporters during a press conference.
LDPO has its own repayment woes. For example, officials of a cooperative in central Philippines that is a conduit of LDPO loans said there is a “high” non-repayment rate among their OFW borrowers. The conduit, the Philippine Cooperative Central Fund Federation, then conducted a financial education and business assessment seminar to some of its borrowers so that the latter are told how to handle the capital they have.
For migrant civil society advocates like Carmelita Nuqui of the Development Action for Women Network (DAWN), the reintegration fund’s regulations are “different from what the government says in public”. Loans for returning migrants, Nuqui says, are available “but why can’t overseas Filipino workers get them right away if these are really for them?” OFW Journalism Consortium
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Neighborhood Credit Union Breaks Ground in Grand Prairie, Expects to Serve Community by October

Grand Prairie, Texas (PRWEB) February 22, 2012
Great things are happening in Grand Prairie, according to Neighborhood Credit Union, which broke ground this morning on its new location in Grand Prairie.
“We are excited to be in Grand Prairie today to mark the official launch of a new branch that will be ready to serve the people of this community in the next few months,” said Gerald Townsend, Chairman of the Board for Neighborhood Credit Union.
The new branch, at the intersection of West Bardin Road and Great Southwest Parkway, is due to open October 1, 2012. The Neighborhood Credit Union not only will provide a better way of banking to the Grand Prairie community, but also will focus on engaging students at nearby schools to establish a firm financial foundation for their future.
“Our mission is to build financial relationships in your neighborhood,” said Townsend. “We are not another big bank simply pushing products and services. We are a not-for-profit credit union that wants to help people from all walks of life improve their own financial life.”
Chet Kimmell, president and CEO of Neighborhood Credit Union, said the credit union hopes to be a draw to other businesses looking at or locating in Grand Prairie.
“This groundbreaking is symbolic of what we hope will be a trend: the decision by companies and organizations to invest in Grand Prairie and be part of this neighborhood,” said Kimmell. “We believe Grand Prairie is going places, given its forward-thinking leadership and the community’s focus on growth and economic development.”
Neighborhood Credit Union board members and staff were joined by State Rep. Rodney Anderson; Grand Prairie City Council members Bill Thorn and Richard Fregoe; City Manager Tom Hart; Gail Cannon, District Director for State Rep. Barbara Nash; Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce officials Bill Moser and Greg Cashman, and other business leaders.
About Neighborhood Credit Union
Neighborhood Credit Union, the oldest credit union in Dallas (chartered April 18, 1930), is a not-for-profit financial organization serving Dallas and Ellis counties, as well as the city of Arlington. With branches in South Dallas, North Dallas, Richardson, Arlington, Mesquite, Duncanville, Waxahachie and Lancaster (and soon to be in Grand Prairie) and assets topping $300 million, Neighborhood Credit Union has a membership of 30,000 and continues to welcome new members daily. For more information on Neighborhood Credit Union, call (214) 748-9393 or visit http://www.myncu.com/.
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Dollar debt set to remain sparse and steep in Asia

By Umesh Desai and Kelvin Soh
REUTERS – In a world awash with cheap cash from major central banks, it may seem ironic that companies in the top emerging market growth hotspot cannot get their hands on reasonably priced bank loans.
But Asia‘s credit landscape has changed dramatically over the past year and January provided the strongest evidence to date, with dollar lending by banks virtually non-existent except for the most pristine names — and at very rich prices.
Borrowers rushed into the more fickle and demanding bond markets, catching investors early in the year but still paying through their nose for the cash.
The flurry included eight top-tier Hong Kong-based companies that hit debt markets with a record $8 billion worth of dollar bonds in January.
“There’s never been a period with such a level of activity from Hong Kong corporates in the bond market. It’s unprecedented,” said Anthony Arnaudy, head of debt capital markets for North-east Asia at Standard Chartered Bank.
Hong Kong property developer Nan Fung International Holdings was a first time bond issuer in January, as was property firm Wheelock (0020.HK).
Spreads widened and yields soared. Bond issuers in Hong Kong paid a mark-up of as much as 4 percentage points above U.S. debt yields to secure 5-year funds, about 10 times more than they did in 2007 before the U.S. subprime crisis.
The risk, say bankers, is now of a long-term jump in funding costs in the region as U.S. and European banks stay away.
At first glance what has been happening in Asian credit markets might seem incongruous .
On the one hand, the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank have pumped cheap dollars and euros into the financial system to support their faltering economies. U.S. rates are set to stay near zero for at least two more years.
And yet corporates in fast-growing Asia are not able to get banks to lend them dollars or euros. This had not happened before. Not in 2009, and certainly not in any of the previous episodes when financial markets were this liquid.
But the past year has been different. The easiest carry trade in global markets has been disrupted by trussed up bank balance-sheets, the stringency of Basel III capital requirements and, most of all, the drawn out European debt crisis.
It’s not the best time to be seeking foreign currency loans, yet there’s potentially huge demand. At least $14 billion of dollar, euro and Hong Kong dollar denominated loans are scheduled to mature this year and might come up for refinancing.
And borrowers are sensing the terrain is not going to shift in their favour anytime soon. Hong Kong’s Nan Fung returned quickly to the dollar bond market with another issue this month, paying 5.15 percent for 5-year debt.
Others too, have been adapting to the changing game. Singapore’s MMI holdings decided to replace its loan with a bond, India’s Power Finance Corporation (PWFC.NS) had to cut the tenor on a loan proposal, and Hong Kong’s IFC Development both cut its bond offering by more than a third and upped its yield.
TAPS RUN DRY?
Forced by the turn in the credit cycle, borrowers have sought out alternate sources of funding, shifting to more liquid markets in Singapore or Japan.
Henderson Land (0012.HK), for instance, issued a S$200 million 5-year bond in Singapore late last year, while Cheung Kong Holdings (0001.HK), controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, also raised its bond offerings in the city-state.
Even so, loan volumes have collapsed. Across Asia, there were 28 deals totalling $3.4 billion in January 2012, a tiny fraction of the 63 deals worth $19.5 billion in January 2011.
That is worrisome, given the mountain of loans to be refinanced in Asia this year. Australia has about $53 billion maturing this year, Hong Kong has $26 billion and Singapore has $17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
“Even with the monetary easing, some banks are trying to preserve capital, which will have an effect on loan pricing,” said Benjamin Ng, head of Asia syndicate and acquisition finance at Citigroup.
One fear is that European banks, traditionally the biggest providers of foreign funding in Asia, will continue deleveraging. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate European banks, excluding British ones, have claims of about $680 billion on Asia.
No one is quite sure how much of that cash has left the region in 2011, but one thing is certain: these banks are not committing new funds to Asia. And the billions of euros the European authorities are injecting into their banking systems are simply being recycled into safe deposits at the ECB and government debt.
“Not surprisingly, pricing on Asian loans has not budged much and the higher pricing is here to stay for some time to come,” said Birendra Baid, head of loan syndication, Asia-Pacific at Deutsche Bank.
Local banks, such as Singapore’s DBS (DBSM.SI) and India’s ICICI Bank, have sensed there are rich pickings among the assets the Europeans are offloading.
The problem though is that the foreign currency part of their balance-sheets is already stretched, and Basel III will require them to be even more prudent about managing risk and liquidity.
Foreign currency loan growth at most Asian banks has hit the 40-70 percent annual pace, Morgan Stanley estimates, which means their lending in dollars has been far faster than the 15-20 percent average rise in overall credit.
Moreover, dollar deposit growth has not kept pace, which has meant the ratio of dollar loans to deposits is upwards of an unhealthy 100 percent for most Asian banks, particularly those in South Korea and Thailand.
In Korea for instance, savings banks, which are big non-banking lenders in the economy, deposited $5 billion with their local lobby group late last year, preferring low yields over any exposure to risk.
“I don’t think it is a crisis by any stretch,” said Viktor Hjort, head of Asian credit strategy at Morgan Stanley.
“What you have though is a situation where over the past two years Asia’s grown used to there being this very generous and very cheap access to dollar funding by Asian banks.
“That’s now much more constrained because lending has already expanded aggressively over the last few years and the European banks, historical providers of cheap wholesale funding, are pulling out.”
The implications are two-fold. One is the risk that Asian banks join the issuance queue aggressively, going on a dollar-funding binge as they try to cherry-pick assets and expand balance-sheets — what Morgan Stanley terms the “dollarisation” of Asian banks.
Australia’s Macquarie Bank kicked off that country’s yankee bond issuance for 2012 this week, offering 420 basis points over U.S. Treasury yields for a 5-year U.S. dollar bond.
The other risk is a more permanent jump in funding costs for Asia, at least until the U.S. and European banks are able to come back into the emerging market wholesale lending business. Even though private banks and funds have stepped into the space vacated by the banks, Asia’s funding needs are growing.
PRICIER DOLLARS
There has already been a marked jump in borrowing costs. And a simultaneous and worrying trend of banks invoking “market disruption clauses” to increase pricing on pre-committed loans to better reflect the rise in their own cost of funds.
One interesting example is the refinancing by the top-tier IFC Development Ltd in Hong Kong, which owns the building of the same name in the city’s business district. It initially wanted to borrow HK$17 billion, but had to slash it by 71 percent to HK$5 billion, hit by the liquidity squeeze. It also had to lift the pricing by about 20 percent to attract more lenders.
Hong Kong-based Kerry Properties (0683.HK) is currently offering 230 basis points for a HK$2.4 billion three-year loan, 70 percent or 135 bps higher than it paid on a five-year loan in January 2011.
Loan pricing in Hong Kong needs to be at least 200 basis points over HIBOR, even for top rated companies, according to several loan bankers. This is almost double what was being offered about a year ago.
The all-inclusive pricing for a 5-year loan for a BBB rated borrower in Australia is close to 300 bps, a jump of 100 bps since November.
Simon Milne, treasury consultant at iSelect, an Australian insurance broker, said borrowers were facing the most difficult market conditions he has ever seen.
Milne, who has more than 20 years experience in the Australian debt markets, including four as treasurer of gaming company Crown Ltd (CWN.AX), says top-tier firms are still able to get loans at competitive rates. It’s the mid-range corporates that are struggling. “The risk of pulling a deal has increased,” he said.
Across in India, the Export-Import Bank of India, a frequent borrower in offshore loan markets with a good following given its status as a wholly state-owned borrower, is borrowing up to $250 million for 3 years, paying an all-inclusive charge of 250 bps over Libor. That is nearly double the 140 bps over Libor that it paid on a US$150 million three-year loan in March 2011.
(Writing by Vidya Ranganathan; Additional reporting by Prakash Chakravarti, Jacqueline Poh, Michael Flaherty and Stephen Aldred in Hong Kong, Sharon Klyne in Sydney,; Sumeet Chatterjee in Mumbai and; Yoo Choonsik in Seoul; Editing by Alex Richardson)http://tourism9.com/    http://vkins.com/

Greene Co. airport improvements could land jobs for region

The Beavercreek Twp. Board of Trustees is considering financial incentives for potential development of more than 1,000 acres near the Greene County Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport.
The board plans to vote March 5 on a resolution to establish a tax increment financing fund (TIF) for a 19-parcel, 1,086-acre area south of U.S. 35 that could become an economic engine by serving corporate jets and new businesses. It would enable developers not to shoulder all the cost of roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure.
The mostly agricultural area stretches from Langs Chevrolet near Orchard Lane to south of the airport. The biggest parcel is a 615-acre spot owned by the Valley Springs Farm Co.
Letters of notice have been sent to the superintendents of Beavercreek, Xenia and the Greene County Career Center school districts about the proposed 10-year TIF.
“It can impact them from the standpoint that they lose revenue off of this,” Beavercreek Twp. Trustee Robert Glaser said. “But we have the option to take and make it up. We can take money out of that pool and make them whole. This puts them on notice that it’s going to happen, or it could happen.”
‘Nobody’ knows 
about TIF plan
Glaser admits most public officials and residents know little of the plan. “We’ve really had no public input on this whatsoever,” Glaser said during a trustee meeting on Feb. 6. “I don’t think the public is aware that we are doing this.
“Nobody seems to know about this. We publish these reports but who reads all this stuff? I think we need to go a little extra step and make sure that the public is aware of what we’re doing, so that there’s no surprises.”
Greene County Auditor David Graham said a TIF was used to develop the land that became The Greene.
“The developer wanted somebody to pay for the infrastructure improvements that needed to be made related to that property. There were no roads, no water, no sewer,” Graham said. “Nobody likes the theory of a TIF, but it gives you an opportunity to control a development.”
A 2008 Beavercreek citizen satisfaction survey performed by Fallon Research showed 52 percent of the city’s residents favored using a TIF-like tool and 37 percent opposed it.
Airport could be economic boon
The area near the airport has long been considered a potential economic resource. With Wright-Patterson Air Force Base positioning itself for more rounds of Base Realignment and Closure, the site could be attractive to defense contractors and others.
Glaser said the runway’s expansion to 5,000 feet is nearly completed, which will enable it to accommodate more private jets per Federal Aviation Administration rules. Glaser said the airport may need a waiver since the setback from the taxiways and some hangars do not meet the FAA regulations.
In 2008, the collection of hangars and runways was in the sights of Beavercreek and Xenia city officials when both proposed joint tax agreements with the township in order to bring services to the property. Officials from both cities hoped to have their foot in the door when the property near the airport begins to develop.
“Our county airport is strategically located. It’s a real jewel,” Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales said in July 2008 after an airport plan was presented. “This gives us a foundation to work from.”
Xenia City Manager Jim Percival said he proposed a Joint Economic Development District that included the TIF idea during a July 2008 board of trustees meeting, but that he “never heard back.”
Percival said Xenia has no plans to annex any land near the airport. He did not know about the township’s newest plan. “There’s potential with the airport, no question,” he said. “We always want to work with our neighbors to provide benefits to the entire region.”
Trustees tried to acquire farm land
Glaser said the trustees tried to purchase a 60-acre parcel just south of the airport from the Beavercreek-based Deccan Group, LLC.
“We were just looking at it as a potential investment, let’s put it that way,” Glaser said of the farm land that includes a 1900 bungalow and another structure. “This was a strategic piece of property for the future of the township . . . Control of the property was important to us on a long-term basis. . . . We couldn’t reach terms with the owner.”
County auditor records show the land was purchased for $300,000 in 2003. Neither side disclosed the negotiated prices or how far apart the sides were.
Jan Venkayya, president of Deccan, said the house is rented out and the land leased to a farmer who grows soybeans and corn. She said the township’s offer was not the right price.
“For development, anyone wants to have utilities,” Venkayya said. “I think (our land) would be very useful for the airport for them to expand. It’s an emotional issue for me. I have an attachment to that land, but maybe at some point I would be willing to sell it.”

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AK BARS Bank: AK BARS Bank Murabaha Islamic Financing Facility has been awarded the Europe Deal of the Year by the …

AK BARS Bank: AK BARS Bank Murabaha Islamic Financing Facility has been awarded the Europe Deal of the Year by the Islamic Finance news Awards
EquityStory.RS, LLC-News: AK BARS Bank / Key word(s): Miscellaneous AK BARS Bank: AK BARS Bank Murabaha Islamic Financing Facility has been awarded the Europe Deal of the Year by the Islamic Finance news Awards
27.01.2012 / 12:06

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AK BARS Bank has successfully allocated funds raised under its Syndicated Murabaha Islamic financing deal, in the amount of 60 million USD. The Master Agreement was signed in September 2011 for the period of 1 year, and is the first public international Shariah-compliant deal in Russia. Citi and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group, acted as exclusive Joint Lead Arrangers of and Bookrunners for the deal. The Eurasian Development Bank acted as Mandated Lead Arranger. Citi Islamic Investment Bank E.C. acted as Documentation Agent, and Citibank International Plc as Investment Agent. The funds raised have been used to finance a priority service and transport infrastructure development project in the Republic of Tatarstan, in preparation for Universiade (the World University Games) 2013, which will be hosted by the city of Kazan. These investments aimed to develop the interregional air travel system and stimulate the domestic tourism and business activity of the city. In January AK BARS BANK’s Islamic deal was awarded the title of «Deal of the Year 2011 in Europe» by the Islamic Finance News, the leading specialized online journal for the Islamic finance market. The innovative character and the uniqueness of the transaction were the main criteria for the award of the title «Deal of the Year 2011 in Europe». The deal was the first of its type in the CIS, and opened the doors to the Islamic finance market for Russia. This award proves that «AK BARS» BANK is the leader and pioneer in the development and implementation of alternative funding sources both in the Russian market and across the CIS. – «In spite of the severe market situation and tight time schedule, AK BARS BANK managed to close the deal on beneficial terms» – noted Robert Minnegaliev, the Chairman of the Board of Ak Bars Bank. – This Shariah-compliant deal created a real opportunity for the diversification of fund sourcing. This sets a new benchmark in the CIS and a significant precedent for Russian banks.» The «Deal of the Year» Award is granted annually for successful results in the area of Islamic finance. The Awards Ceremony will be held in Dubai in February 2012.
AK BARS Bank (open joint-stock company) was registered in the Central Bank of Russia and successfully operates on the financial market of Russia since 1993. AK BARS Bank is a universal bank and develops corporate, retail and investment businesses.
End of Corporate News

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27.01.2012 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EquityStory.RS, LLC – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
EquityStory.RS, LLC’s Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

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Financial aid benefits all

More money in the pockets of the students means more for the city of Carbondale.
According to a university news release, 6,685 SIU Carbondale students received $23.2 million in federal financial aid and $170,000 in Parent Plus Loans. While that will be the bulk of the funds, according to the news release, more will come.
In fiscal year 2010 and 2011, more than $182.6 million was dolled out in undergraduate financial aid with more than $99 million in graduate stu-dent financial aid.
City Manager Kevin Baity said it is difficult to track exactly how much the city benefits because there are variables that include bursar bills, credit card debt, and rent and utilities owed. It is also difficult to track the benefits because sales tax revenues are recorded as monthly sales in quarterly increments. However, he said it’s probably safe to say that the $23.2 million will be beneficial.
“Of the $23.2 million, I would venture to say the university will retain a very large portion as payment towards the students’ bursar bills,” Baity said. “If the students were to actually receive 5 percent or $1.16 million, they may spend 20 percent or $232,000 in Carbondale. Based on that number, the city could realize up to $7,000 in retail sales tax, depending on what was purchased.”
According to SIU 42 percent of financial aid refunds were electronic direct deposits and the rest were through physical checks.
codell.rodriguez@thesouthern.com
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Greenville New Markets Opportunity Reports Investment of Over $18.5 Million Using New Markets Tax Credits

GREENVILLE, S.C., Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Greenville New Markets Opportunity (“GNMO”) LLC announced today over $18.5 million in below-market financing for Project ONE, a mixed-use development located at the corner of Main and Washington Streets and developed by Hughes Development Corporation.
Project ONE removed abandoned business and retail spaces that had been closed for years in the center of downtown and will transform the area around the project into one of the downtown’s focal points for business, retail, and community-based activities. The project will include offices for the law firm of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., headquarters for CertusBank, and retail space, including Anthrolopologie. Project ONE will also be the first LEED Silver building in downtown Greenville.
GNMO’s New Markets Tax Credit financing, combined with additional New Markets Tax Credit and debt financing by TD Bank, was critical in pulling the financing package together.
“Without the New Market Tax Credits provided by GNMO, the ONE project could not have happened. New Market Tax Credits allowed us to afford a site that owners had been assembling for years — many of them the high-priced years. They also allowed us to partner with the City, requiring less City investment for a project intended to revitalize this entire end of town. Not only will there be new jobs, new retailers, and new businesses on our site, there should be many more in the surrounding blocks.”
- Robert E. Hughes, Jr., President, Hughes Development Corporation
An IMPLAN analysis predicts Project ONE will provide 544 direct, indirect and induced temporary jobs during the construction period, and 672 permanent jobs created and retained during operation. Also, over $6.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenues will be generated annually.
About Greenville New Markets Opportunity LLC: Greenville New Markets Opportunity (“GNMO”) LLC is a Community Development Entity under provisions of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, whose mission it is to serve and provide investment capital for real estate development projects in low-income communities in Greenville, South Carolina.
About Hughes Development Corporation: Hughes Development Corporation is a locally owned real estate development company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. The primary business of Hughes Development Corporation is developing commercial projects in the Upstate South Carolina. To learn more about Project ONE, please call Helen Sanders at 864-233-2580, ext. 15.
Media Contact:
Tammy C. Propst
tpropst@taxadvantagegroup.com
864.271.2737
This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com/.
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Tatas’ unlikely golden goose

When Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover, it was pilloried for poor judgement. Now, JLR is a roaring success.

Alongside his warning last week that Tata Group expansion plans would have to be tempered by the troubled global environment, Mr Ratan Tata noted that in its drive to take heed of risks, it shouldn’t lose out on good opportunities.
Four years ago, the “good” opportunity that the company didn’t pass up provoked much tut-tutting. When Tata Motors first took Jaguar Land Rover off Ford’s hands for $2.3 billion in 2008, many asked: how could a company known for commercial vehicles and cheap cars, and for whom there were no obvious synergies in the acquisition, do any better than a gargantuan of the global auto world, which had pumped billions into the iconic brand?
Those that didn’t tut then, certainly did a few months later, when the financial crisis struck and sales at JLR plunged. Even worse, Tata Motors had taken out a $3-billion bridge loan to finance the acquisition, and struggled to refinance its debts, which remained firmly high. Attempts to secure financial support from the British government failed, forcing the Tata Group to pump its own funds into the company.
In March 2009, Tata Motors posted a Rs 25.1 billion loss for the year. “Troublesome trophy” declared the Financial Times, adding that it “raised questions about the wisdom of fast-growing companies from emerging markets acquiring their developed-world counterparts in struggling sectors.”
Those “questions” have now been turned on their head: far from being a trophy, JLR survived the crisis to become the biggest earnings contributor to Tata Motors, something that has continued — and is expected to continue — through this second round of the crisis.
For the year ending March, Umesh Karne at BRICS Securities expects JLR to make a net profit of Rs 71 billion, against a group profit of Rs 79.5 billion, with sales up 14 per cent, and a further rise of 8 per cent the following year.

Turnaround factors

JLR seems to be preparing itself for such an upbeat scenario. The threatened closure of one of its British plants never happened; the company has since announced plans to expand the workforce at its Solihull plant, and build an engine factory near the city of Wolverhampton, a move that will gradually reduce its dependence on Ford engines. It’s in talks over a joint venture in China.
It’s easy to look for one reason for this remarkable turnaround, but there are a number of answers. Firstly, Tata Motors wasn’t afraid to seek external assistance, bringing in KPMG and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to design a turnaround for the immediate, medium and short term. In 2009, the company unveiled a business plan, which involved aggressive cost cutting (reducing employee numbers, more efficient IT systems and marketing spend), changes to cash flow management, and a multi-year plan for product launches.
Luckily, there was lots of room for improvement. Ian Fletcher, an automotive analyst at IHS Global Insight, who worked for JLR under Ford, argues that the American firm had a “feast and famine” approach, lavishing cash on JLR at points, while starving it of investment at others. Cash was often directed in unhelpful ways, such as a Jaguar F1 programme.
“If you want to make a profit don’t put millions into racing it round a car track,” Mr Fletcher says. “You need to build a car that people want and charge what you can get away with.”

Restoring ‘Cool’

Building a coveted car also proved challenging in the Ford years: its launch of the X-Type — which was known to some in the industry as a “Ford Mondeo with a pretty frock” — was just one example, while others such as the “S” type were seen as overly retro, and unappealing to audiences below the age of 50. (By contrast BMW and Mercedes were able to attract mid to late 30s buyers too).
Under Tata, the XF and XJ updates did much to restore the company’s “cool” reputation while the launch of the Discovery in 2009 proved timely for the recovery. Tata Motors’ pledge to pump 1.5 billion pounds a year up until 2014, into a total of 40 new product actions — including new vehicles, and updates — has added to that credibility and created a buzz (rumours that it was considering expanding its Halewood plant had observers asking whether it could mean a new compact Jaguar was on the cards).
Part of the problem in the past was too much interference from Ford: something that Tata Motors has reversed. Tata brought in (and retained from Ford days) senior engineers and management, with many years of experience, particularly in the German industry, pretty much leaving them to their own devices, but with the assurance of having the sizable resources and support of the Tata Group behind them.
The CX-16 concept car that wowed audiences at the Frankfurt auto show last year was a case in point. “10 years ago, something with such cutting-edge technology would have been left on the drawing board,” says Mr Fletcher.

Niche focus

The trouble with Ford’s approach was that it understood and applied volume manufacturing, but not the global niche marketing and product that JLR needed to be successful, and which Tata Motors embraced through its hands-off approach, says Professor Peter Cooke, Professor of Automotive Management at Buckingham University.
“Fundamentally, Jaguar and Land Rover have to be global niche products,” he says. Now each product is targeted at specific niche audiences, such as the high-spending city dweller in the case of the Range Rover Evoque, the petit SUV, 15,000 of which have been sold since its launch in September.
As a result, Tata seems to be pushing demand in all the right directions: China is now JLR’s third largest and fastest growing market, accounting for around 16 per cent of sales, while demand in Russia, Brazil and India continues to grow.
Overall, with the investment from Tata Motors, JLR was able to position itself in the right space, just in time for the upswing that came in 2009. It is not the only luxury branded car to be doing well: Bentley saw sales rise 37 per cent in 2011, again driven by China, and is preparing for further growth with plans to expand its range.
There are, of course, challenges: currency movements, which have in the past worked well for JLR’s profitability, have hurt it in recent months, with the appreciation of the pound against the dollar. As a result, JLR profits for the quarter ending in September fell 2.1 per cent. Moreover, the financial climate will make the quality and timing of its 40 product actions all the more important.
The success of JLR doesn’t make or break the case for acquisitions of distressed foreign companies (There is only so much a company can do in the face of unremittingly weakened demand, as has been the case with Tata Steel’s European operations). But it does go to show, bad timing is often overrated. After all, had it waited a few months more, Tata Motors would never have secured the financing to acquire the company that has turned out to be its golden goose.
blfeedback@thehindu.co.in
(This article was published on January 8, 2012)

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Capital Financial Global Signs Letter of Intent with Mining Operator for St. Louis Mine

SALT LAKE CITY , Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Capital Financial Global, Inc. (OTC:CFGX.PK – News), announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Gambit Trade Worldwide, a mobile precious metals retrieval and processing company, to mine its distressed St. Louis Mine.
“We are delighted to be in negotiations with Gambit to work our distressed St. Louis Mine,” said Mr. Paul Norat , CEO of Capital Financial Global, Inc.  “Gambit has agreed in concept to finance its part of the operation for a split of the end proceeds, which puts us at much lower risk. Based on mining efforts in the surrounding area, Gambit feels it can pull and process enough ore with sufficient precious metals yield to make this the deal of the century for both of our companies.”
“Furthermore, this goes to show that our business model of acquiring distressed loan related assets works,” said Mr. Norat. “If borrowers can successfully complete the loan work-out process we will make money; If they can’t, we will still make money by converting the related collateral to cash.”
The St. Louis mine is comprised of 85.5 acres near Searchlight, Nevada , containing 5 patented lode mining claims.  For more information about the mine, please visit our “Investor Center” at http://www.capfiglobal.com/investor-center/projects.
For additional information, please contact our Investor Relations team headed by Mr. Michael Keller by calling toll free at 888-801-9715 or by emailing ir@capfiglobal.com.
For further information regarding Gambit Trade Worldwide, please visit http://gambittrade.com.
About Capital Financial Global, Inc.
Capital Financial Global, Inc. (OTC:CFGX.PK – News) is a specialty finance company that, unlike traditional banks, helps organizations obtain needed liquidity by using an asset-backed approach rather than a traditional credit approach to originating new loans, buying and selling existing loans, and by converting distressed collateral into cash or trade-able form. The company is publicly traded on the OTC Markets trading system under the symbol “CFGX”.
Our Business Model
The Company makes money by originating new loans, buying and selling existing loans, and by converting distressed collateral into cash or trade-able form.
Market Segments
The market segments the Company operates in are: insurance trusts and pension funds, residential & commercial real estate, precious metals, and investment grade government securities. The Company will also aggressively pursue any other opportunities that fall within its overall strategy.
Forward-looking statements:
Statements in this press release relating to plans, strategies, economic performance and trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include but are not limited to, risk factors inherent in doing business. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “forecasts,” “potential,” or “continue,” or similar terms or the negative of these terms. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The company has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
For more information please contact:
Capital Financial Global, Inc.
Investor Relations
Mike Keller
Tel: 888-801-9715
Email: ir@capfiglobal.com
http://www.capfiglobal.com/

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Overstock.com Selects Priceline Partner Network to Power O.co Travel Website

SALT LAKE CITY , Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK – News), today announced that it has selected the Priceline Partner Network, which is a business unit of priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN – News), to power Overstock’s new travel website, called O.co Travel.
O.co Travel customers will have access to a robust collection of travel services from the Priceline Partner Network, including:

• Priceline’s Name Your Own Price® travel services that can deliver savings of up to 60% off hotel rooms, up to 40% off flights and up to 40% off rental cars;
• The ability to book published-price hotel rooms through thousands of  quality chain and independent hotels around the world. O.co Travel customers also will have access to Priceline’s extensive database of hotel freebies, including instant discounts, free breakfast, free Internet access, and more;
• The ability to book rental car reservations worldwide. O.co Travel will also support rental car company discount codes;
• Airline ticketing with almost all major airlines through priceline.com.  This service includes seat mapping, the ability to book different classes of seats, and it supports airline frequent flier numbers,
• A broad lineup of money-saving air & hotel vacation packages. When air and hotel are booked together, customers can save up to $500 compared to booking separately.

“Our partnership with priceline.com allows us to offer customers an in-depth travel site,” said Overstock.com President Jonathan Johnson . ”We constant receive customer feedback and tailor our offerings to these customer preferences. With Priceline’s lineup of travel services, including Name Your Own Price, our customers can be sure they’re getting the best travel deals available on the Internet today.”
“Overstock.com has built a brand that’s known for saving consumers money across a broad spectrum of products,” said Randy Schartner , President of the Priceline Partner Network. ”We believe that Priceline’s broad array of travel services, which are also focused on delivering savings, will fit well with Overstock.com’s products and mission. We look forward to working with them.”
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com is Your Savings Engine offering brand-name products. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City , is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market System and can be found online at http://www.overstock.com and http://www.o.co. Overstock.com regularly posts information about the company and other related matters on its website under the heading “Investor Relations.”
About The Priceline Partner Network
The Priceline Partner Network (PPN) http://www.pricelinepartnernetwork.com is the private-label distribution channel for priceline.com travel services.  Working behind the scenes, PPN powers travel websites for a spectrum of affinity groups, airlines and hotel management firms and chains.  PPN believes that it offers the most customizable private-label travel affiliate program on the market today.  PPN’s private-label services include hotels, flights, rental cars, flight & hotel packages, and priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price travel services for hotels, airline tickets and rental cars.
About The Priceline Group
The Priceline Group (Nasdaq: PCLN – News) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with over 200,000 participating hotels worldwide.  The Group is composed of four primary brands – Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw – and several ancillary brands. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in over 140 countries in Europe , North America , South America , the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa .
Booking.com is the number one online hotel reservation service in the world, offering over 170,000 hotels (as of November 7, 2011 ), and is available in 41 languages.  More recent hotel counts are available on the Booking.com website.  Priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.  Agoda.com is an Asia -based online hotel reservation service that is available in 37 languages.  TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in over 4,000 locations.  Customer support is provided in 29 languages.
Overstock.com® and O.co® and Club O Rewards® are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Club O ™ , and Club O Rewards Dollars ™ and Your Savings Engine ™ are trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding number and type of travel services offered and the quality and price of the services. Our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 , our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or any amendments thereto, and our other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission identify important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections, estimates or forward-looking statements

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KL property investment ranking slips in new survey

By Yow Hong Chieh KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Kuala Lumpur’s property outlook will continue to slide in 2012 while Singapore remains the most attractive Asia Pacific city for real estate investors, according to an Urban Land Institute (ULI) report.
Kuala Lumpur’s investment prospects slipped one spot to 16th out of 21 Asian cities tracked going into next year while development prospects dropped three places, also to 16th, the “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2012” outlook released yesterday said.
Singapore topped the list despite a less positive environment and falling yields this year, and was the only city besides Shanghai considered to have “generally good” development prospects.
Buying sentiment was stronger in Kuala Lumpur for retail and industrial property than in Singapore while the reverse was true for office, apartment and hotel property.
The largest group of experts polled for the report recommended a hold on all property sectors in Kuala Lumpur next year, while a “sizable minority” backed acquisitions in all areas.
“Construction financing (for Kuala Lumpur) might remain more limited as global economic concerned continue to linger,” the report added.
“However, government plans are in place to improve infrastructure over the coming years — always a boost for commercial real estate.”
It also said that despite recent declines investors still saw Malaysia’s capital as “an emerging city of interest”, noting that properties in the city were valued at one-fifth that of comparable properties in Singapore.
Investors also predicted bullish growth in Malaysia, with the report predicting that national GDP growth would remain at five per cent or above through to 2015.
The report was compiled by Washington-based ULI with PricewaterhouseCoopers International from interviews with 360 property experts, including investors, developers, asset managers, fund managers, brokers and architects.
Only three cities — Bangkok, Manila and Osaka — saw their investment ratings rise this year while Taipei, Bangkok, Sydney and Jakarta achieved the largest gains in investment rank.
Chinese cities dominated the investment prospect rankings, with Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing placing second, fourth and fifth respectively; Guangzhou was the lowest ranked Chinese city at sixth spot.

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Financing a hurdle for airport hotel

By John Nolan, Staff Writer 7:27 PM Sunday, December 4, 2011
DAYTON — Dayton International Airport officials face a stiff challenge in their latest attempt to find a developer that can obtain financing to build a hotel at the airport, commercial real estate executives said.
“The economy has slightly improved for hotel financing, but I still think it’s going to be very difficult,” said Terry Baltes, president of Baltes Commercial Realty in Washington Twp.
The Dayton airport’s first try lagged for more than a year and fizzled in October when three banks that were evaluating the project decided not to loan the money to a Cincinnati-area developer. The airport has asked for a new round of proposals that developers must submit by 4 p.m. Dec. 30.
Terrence G. Slaybaugh, Dayton’s director of aviation, wants a developer to build on the two-acre site that was cleared when the city demolished the 40-year-old Dayton Airport Hotel this year. It would be convenient to PSA Airlines Inc.’s corporate headquarters and its crew training facility at the airport, he said.
Slaybaugh said he has received calls expressing interest from several developers, whom he declined to identify.
“I am optimistic that we’ll be able to put something together,” he said.
Half a dozen representatives of developers or construction subcontractors showed up this week for a non-mandatory meeting to discuss the project with airport officials.
Construction loans are hard to come by, and hotel construction financing is even tougher because businesses and leisure travelers tend to cut back on travel in lean times, commercial real estate brokers said. It is critical that the city-owned airport attract a developer who can inspire confidence in potential lenders, brokers said.
“I think that has more to do with the quality of the developer, than the timing in the financial market,” said Mark Fornes, a partner in Mark Fornes Realty Inc. “The key to getting that deal done is finding a good, reputable hotel developer with the track record necessary to do the development.”
“The stars must align for the right developer, right brand, right sponsor, feasibility and financing availability,” said Eric Belfrage, vice president of CBRE Group Inc.’s hotels and investment properties unit in Columbus.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.