NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE:NRF) announced today that it has closed its acquisition of Timarron Capital, Inc. from Allied Capital Corporation. Timarron, based in Dallas, Texas, was renamed NRF Capital immediately following the acquisition.
NRF Capital will focus on the direct origination of whole loans and subordinate debt secured by commercial and multifamily real estate properties. In conjunction with NorthStar's operations based in New York, NRF Capital will provide expanded national coverage for NorthStar's real estate lending business and allow it to better serve its borrower relationships.
Since NorthStar entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Timarron, NorthStar has funded or acquired $106.5 million of commercial mortgage loans originated by Timarron.
David Hamamoto, President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthStar, commented, "This acquisition represents an exciting strategic opportunity for NorthStar to continue expanding its origination capability and deploy capital more rapidly by uniting with a team of experienced and well respected real estate lending professionals with a broad network of relationships. We believe there are significant benefits associated with originating more commercial first mortgage loans directly, including the opportunity to develop closer relationships with a growing customer base, while retaining greater control over the structuring and underwriting process."
NRF Capital is led by Craig Barnes, who held senior positions in real estate lending and investment at Principal Financial prior to forming Timarron. The senior management team at NRF Capital has an average of approximately 18 years of experience at major financial institutions in real estate and related fields.
About NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.
NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. is an internally managed REIT that makes investments in commercial real estate debt, real estate securities and net lease properties. For more information about NorthStar Realty Finance Corp, please visit http://www.nrfc.com.
About Allied Capital
Allied Capital Corporation (NYSE:ALD) is a leading business development company with total assets of more than $3.0 billion. Founded in 1958, Allied Capital provides long-term debt and equity capital to profitable, middle market companies to finance growth, buyouts, acquisitions and recapitalizations. For more information, please visit www.alliedcapital.com.
Certain items in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. NorthStar Realty can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NorthStar Realty's expectations include, but are not limited, to changes in economic conditions generally and the real estate and bond markets specifically, legislative or regulatory changes (including changes to laws governing the taxation of REITs), availability of capital, interest rates and interest rate spreads, policies and rules applicable to REITs, the continued service of key management personnel, the effect of competition in the real estate finance industry, the costs associated with compliance and corporate governance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related regulations and requirements, and other risks detailed from time to time in NorthStar Realty's periodic reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. NorthStar Realty expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.