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February, 20, 2001 Headlines---- Preferred Capital/Capital Werks--Announcement Soon!!! Where We Get Our News----- Amstat Joins On theDock.com Lyons Financial to get New Digs More on JDR and U.S. Capital--There is a Soap Opera here! Heller Quits Doing SBA Loans Oracle Has the Ex-President and B2B, too at Emeril Lagasse http://starchefs.com/ELagasse.html GATX and Airplane Warranties Netbank CEO Gets Federal Reserve Board of Governors Appointment Rodi-Goodman---Will You Pay to See Them Wrestle at a Leasing Conference???? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CIT We reported on this last week, unless there is something new happening that we don't understand. "ABN Leasing Group was sold to Citibank. They were having a conference call at 1:00PM central time, and more will be known after that.Perhaps this is a different division." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preferred Capital We have some inside news that Capital Werks has been training Preferred Capital employees, the famous plastic card-automatic approval leasing marketing group, and that the company will soon change. We have employee information about certain requests made to them, that we are looking into, and until substantiated, we will not address them. We hope to have a story on this, this week. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where We Get News/Plus Help Employees As a side note, we not only have presidents, brokers, CFO, operations people, but many "employees. " We are the only source that wants employees to read us, not just the "executives." Most of our news comes from insiders. We help them in change, answer questions, relieve fear, we hope, and consult with them. We keep all communication confidential. We are an "insider" publication. A young lady called and said she was offered a better job elsewhere. Wanted to give notice, but then heard the company was in financial trouble. She telephoned to find out what we knew, and what we advised her to do. She was happy was she was located, but the new job was not only more money, which attracted her, but more responsibility and a chance to grow. Should she take the job? What did we know? The conversation was private, but let me tell you that I told her to ask the company she wanted to join for a copy of their latest financial statement, if they had a Dun and Bradstreet report, and query them about where they were getting their operating money, how well they were funded, and basically, if management did not want to disclose this information, she should stay where she was. Whether a private or a public company, the employee has the right to know. And it is very similar to my experience in credit---a company that is doing well, wants to brag and show off how well they are doing, what they have working for them...and the company having problems, will hem and haw and you know you will need a two page write-up to attempt to sell the credit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lease Contract/Documentation Administrator Wanted While Leasing News does not allow employee advertising, we make except for American Leasing, Santa Clara, California, who is looking for a contract/documentation administrator, "hands on" position, opportunity for more responsibility. kitm@americanleasing.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United Capital, Austin, Texas No response from Steve Dallas or the corporation. Rumors continue to fly fast and furious, such as this one: ? I've heard interesting stories about United as well. Rumor has it that John Bowes President & CEO was forced out and received a big payout. Carl Scarborough the company EVP was asked to leave by March. Jerry Peters is running Project Finance, though everyone wonders what HUBCO will use a project finance person for, and Frank Striplin who ran middle market is still there as well as a few admin people. The feeling is that Jerry and Frank will fight it out for control of whatever is left of the company. People at HUBCO feel that Bowes and Credit Lyonnais sold them a bag of junk. HUBCO clearly did not understand what they were buying and once they did understand how bad the situation was chose to shut the operation down, lay off most of the people, and move the office to Westport, CT. As for doing new business, I'm not sure who is left to close it. In addition it seems unlikely that a bank would continue to write new deals with a portfolio as bad as the one they purchased. I know Bowes, Scarborough, Striplin and Peters walked out with big checks to run the company into the ground, while the employees got a few weeks severance for their hard work and loyalty. This one should be interesting. I would encourage you to stay close to this story!!! Name withheld ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ JDR Capital U.S. Capital, Santa Barbara, California I have heard numerous horror stories about JDR, the facts are simple enough to understand. JDR is and always has been a super broker, they were funding all their business through Copelco. In my eyes, Copelco was greedy, due to the 3% reserve they were collecting on a monthly basis from JDR. Eventually the reserve was not sufficient to cover the losses, which escalated to in excess of seven figures for one month alone. Citicorp came in and put a stop to it all, no wonder Citicorp doesn't like to fund broker business. We can all thank JDR!!!! Name Withheld + + + Wagner states two interesting and very critical facts in his complaint. First, he fully acknowledges that they knew beforehand that the "funding source" (JDR)was not the actual decision maker in the credit or funding process. Second, Wagner states that, in spite of that knowledge, Dimension elected to issue the purchase order to the vendor themselves. Tsk tsk. It would seem to me that if Dimension chose to issue a purchase order, it is their sole responsibility to either get the deal funded, enforce the disclaimers that are typical of leasing companies' purchase orders, or do the honorable thing and come clean with the vendor with what happened, of course without pointing the finger at anyone but themselves. Even if the vendor relationship is irreparably damaged as a result, the honest admission will certainly be emancipating and refreshing, and might garner some respect. This opinion is not at all intended to minimize JDR's responsibility. One cannot expect a "funding source" to have the same manner of doing business as one's self. Expectation is pre-determined disappointment. Wagner also gives a pointer as to how to identify that a so-called funding source is actually just a super broker. My twenty-something years of industry experience has taught me that "non-circumvention" language in broker agreements almost without fail points to the funding source being actually a super broker. Other signs include splitting arrangements of points, capping of points far below industry standards and slow turnover of credit and funding submissions. I am simply astounded by the myriad of so-called leasing companies representing themselves as "funding sources" which are merely just relying on other non-recourse funders to get the deal done-- often these super brokers' process is akin to slinging manure at the wall to see what sticks, performing very little analysis to see where the deal best fits. National Business Credit accepts business from self-employed leasing agents, men and women I've known for years, who have their own funding sources as well. Even though the bulk of my funding is largely from proprietary sources (in addition to better-known funding sources), I fully disclose this fact to the broker/agent. They will find out anyway, and if they choose NOT to do business with me because of this, I have no problem with their decision since the decision was made with the facts up-front, and not as a result of the uncovering of a decorated lie. Thanks for the podium, Kit. Jim Fleming <nationalbusinesscredit@yahoo.com> + + + Leasing News is researching this. We are told the Santa Barbara ( actually Montecito, next to Santa Barbara. We are told it is only a mail drop and the company is not actually located at this address. We are attempting to get a hold of a Sheriff's report that might have more information. Here is a person who would like to remain anonymous, who hopes U.S. Capital is getting an infusion of capital ( Where have we heard that before???? ) I am going against my personal guidelines and I ask that you not put my name on this, but feel you should have this current update on USCapital. We too were concerned about the situation with this company. First we were unable for several days to reach anyone. I did receive one call a week ago but it was a less than an informative conversation as it was with one of the clerks, I believe. Today I received a call from Mr. Ken Nelson who I believe to be the key person behind this company. I spoke at length with him about the situation. He has assured me that there will be a funding from their next funding pool on February 23rd. This would apply to transaction complete and in house ready to fund. I questioned him at length and feel at this point that it will happen. As for the future I cannot state but am waiting to hear from him again and plan to determine, if possible, what the future holds and their plans for later fundings. He assured me that they are in business and intend to continue. We have all heard these stories before and the current status of the industry doesn't lend itself sometimes to a lot of credibility from funding sources. However, I also believe that there comes a time when we may have to put our faith in people and believe what they say. In this case I believe Mr. Nelson. It was not necessary for him to call today. Enough said. Will keep you posted and advise if the company delivers as promised. By the way, the ongoing verbal exchange between Goodman and Rodi is great. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rodi-Goodman Those of who know the "Testosterone Boys" find this amusing and thought-provoking. For those who don't maybe it looks in bad taste. This is not the New York Times, I like it and would continue the story. I'm sure there will be more rebuttal. You can quote me. Steve Geller <geller44@optonline.net> = = = Please don't continue to fill the leasingnews with the "Battle of the Testosterone boys". Let Goodman and Rodi battle it out between themselves. The publication of such nonsense is unprofessional and useless. Thank you, Ginny Young <GinnyYoung@bravacapital.com> ( But this may be the start of a television show--- Rodi & Goodman Rate the Leasing Companies-- Please let us hear from other readers on this subject. editor ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ eLease/ e-leasing---Don't be confused. I read your newsletter where eLease "bites the dust". Please do not let anyone confuse eLease with our company, e-leasing.org, Inc., dba e-leasing. As you know, my late partner, Adrian Bulman, and I have had American Leasing & Financial, Inc., for many years and as I am now winding up his estate we are traveling as e-leasing for all our new business. As such, e-leasing is still booking Structured deals on our own books, wharehousing "A" deals (when we can find them!) and brokering B, C, and start-ups. I would appreciate the "heads up" to everyone. Thanks Michael Losey American Leasing and Financial <aleasing@mindspring.com> (eLease Financial Services of Palo Alto, CA (recently acquired by PrimeStreet) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Bancorp To Build New Facility For Lyon Financial U.S. Bancorp has announced plans to construct a building in Marshall's Technology Park development to house Lyon Financial Services, now known as U.S. Bancorp, Business Equipment Finance Group. Marshall's Technology Park development is located west of downtown Marshall, Minnesota adjacent to the Municipal Airport. The approximate 72,000 square foot, two-story building-the first to be constructed in the new development-will be home to approximately 350 employees. Construction is expected to begin in March and will be completed in fall of 2001. The building will be developed and owned by the Fisher Development Company in Mankato, Minnesota. Paulsen Architects of Mankato will provide the architectural design. Met-Con Construction of Faribault will serve as the general contractor. "We are excited about the growth potential for Lyon Financial and look forward to having a facility designed specifically for this group which will help employees better serve our customer's leasing needs. This new building also symbolizes U.S. Bank's commitment to our employees, customers and to the Marshall community," commented Chuck Langer, CEO of U.S. Bancorp Leasing & Financial, parent company of Lyon Financial. Mike Rizzo, president of Lyon Financial, echoed Langer's optimism, "Lyon Financial Services has been an important business in Marshall since 1979. We are pleased to continue our role as a member of the Marshall community." Lyon Financial Services was acquired by U.S. Bancorp in the fall of 2000 and operates as part of the U.S. Bancorp Leasing & Finance Group, which has $5 billion in assets. Lyon Financial provides financing for companies nationwide to lease a wide range of equipment including office, medical, and computer equipment. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amstat Capital Joins the Dock as Preferred Member; Equipment Financing Leader Joins Innovative B2B Exchange for Service Providers Offering Direct Contact with Buyers and Sellers
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2001--Amstat Capital Inc., a leader in the new and used equipment financing industry, has joined The Dock as a Preferred Member. The announcement was made today by Michael Hackman, founder and president of The Dock. The Dock (www.thedock.com) is the first online industrial exchange that allows buyers and sellers to access an integrated offering of equipment and value-added services in an open, collaborative marketplace. On The Dock, buyers and sellers can purchase and list assets or services under their own names and brands in a marketplace featuring multiple sales channels that mirror real world practices. "Amstat Capital will benefit from Preferred Membership on The Dock because our site helps them market their financial services to a larger and yet highly targeted audience of qualified buyers and sellers seeking financial services," said Hackman. Amstat Capital represents banks, insurance companies, and institutional or private investors and offers a broad variety of financing programs including capital leases, operating leases, and loans through fixed-rate and floating-rate financing plans. The company handles leasing packages starting at $20,000 and its average transactions are greater than $100,000. The Dock's Preferred Membership program is subscription-based and offers unlimited transactions and listings, a personal office tailored to the industry-specific business practices and other value-added account services. Preferred Members also receive a Storefront, a customized home page where members describe their products and services in detail, display graphics, links to a variety of marketing materials, contact information and their company's Web site. When buyers and sellers use The Dock's powerful search engine to find equipment and services, the member's name, Storefront icon, services and products are displayed with a link to the member's Storefront. In addition to Amstat Capital, other leading financial providers on The Dock include Lehman Brothers. Preferred Members also include leading corporations, equipment dealers, and auctioneers and others such as Aaron Equipment Company, Federal Equipment Co., DoveBid, Ralston Purina, Trailer Transit Inc., Machinery & Equipment Inc., Daewoo Heavy Industries America, Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., Louisiana Equipment Company, and Prestige Equipment Company. Registration on The Dock is free and includes a Private Office, a personalized home page offering Dock Mail messaging and other customized features where members access the site's powerful resources. Industrial equipment listed on The Dock ranges from machine tools, chemical processing, food and beverage and pharmaceutical to textile, woodworking, mining, power and more. The Dock's broad range of more than 4,000 service providers includes appraisers, auctioneers, new and used equipment dealers, finance companies, riggers, transportation, insurance, real estate, scrap and salvage, warehousing, lenders, engineering and asset management. Headquartered in Melbourne, Fla., Amstat Capital specializes in providing capital for new and used equipment acquisitions. Since 1980, Amstat Capital has worked with growing companies throughout the United States to provide low-cost financing for their equipment requirements. As one of the nation's leading underwriters of equipment financing transactions, Amstat Capital offers staff expertise in the fields of leasing, banking, taxation and finance. For more information, visit the Amstat Capital Web site at www.amstatcapital.com or call 800/498-9994. Headquartered in Los Angeles, The Dock is the leading online industrial equipment and services exchange. Open to all buyers, sellers and associated service providers in the industrial equipment market, The Dock reflects real world practices and creates collaborative commerce by aggregating thousands of service providers and buyers and sellers from dozens of industries into a unified marketplace offering diverse transaction services and direct communication between buyers, sellers and service providers. The Dock offers free membership and subscription-based Preferred Memberships that deliver substantial added-value services that promote member companies and their brands and services. For more information, visit The Dock's Web site, www.thedock.com, or contact The Dock at 310/477-8844. CONTACT: The Dock, Los Angeles Peter Bylsma, 310/477-8844, ext. 161 pbylsma@thedock.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heller Financial Discontinues SBA Loan Origination
CHICAGO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Heller Financial, Inc. (NYSE: HF) today announced that after an extensive review of strategic alternatives, it will discontinue its origination of U.S. Small Business Administration ("SBA") loans, effective immediately. "With increased competition from banks focused on capturing the small business customer by cross-selling a range of financial products such as cash management custodial and depository accounts in addition to SBA loans, the pricing and returns of this product have become much less attractive to Heller. Furthermore, we see excellent growth prospects in many of our other businesses and we believe we will enhance shareholder value by redeploying capital and other resources to take advantage of those opportunities" said Heller Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Almeida. "The SBA's loan program plays an important role in facilitating the growth of thousands of small businesses in the U.S. and we are proud of the contribution we have made," Almeida said. "We will fund existing commitments and continue to participate in the SBA program by servicing our existing loan portfolio in accordance with our customary business practices." Heller expects to record a one time non-operating pre-tax charge of less than $15 million for severance and leasehold related costs in the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2001 in connection with this decision. The Company remains committed to its operating performance targets for the year. Heller Financial, Inc. is a worldwide commercial finance company providing a broad range of sophisticated, collateralized financing solutions. With $20 billion in total assets, Heller offers equipment financing and leasing, sales finance programs, collateral- and cash flow-based financing, financing for healthcare companies and financing for commercial real estate. The company also offers trade finance, factoring, asset-based lending, leasing and vendor finance products, and programs to clients in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Heller's common stock is listed as "HF" on the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges. Heller can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hellerfinancial.com . The statements made by Heller in this news release may include certain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectations regarding its future growth, results and performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future growth, results and performance to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements. Information concerning these risks and uncertainties is contained in the quarterly and annual reports that the company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SOURCE Heller Financial, Inc. CO: Heller Financial, Inc. i--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federal Reserve Board of Governors Appoints NetBank CEO to Thrift Institutions Advisory Council
D.R. Grimes Serves as the First Representative from an Internet Bank ATLANTA, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- NetBank(R), Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender, (Nasdaq: NTBK) (http://www.netbank.com), and the world's leading and first profitable Internet bank with more than $1.8 billion in assets, announced today that its CEO, D.R. Grimes, has been appointed to the Thrift Institutions Advisory Council (TIAC). The Council advises the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and is comprised of 12 representatives from thrift institutions across the country. Members provide a practical perspective to the Board on thrift-related issues. Grimes is the only member from an Internet-only financial institution. "I welcome the opportunity to serve," Grimes said. "Since its inception in 1980, the Council has served an important and worthwhile purpose advising the Federal Reserve Board on existing practices and emerging trends. Internet banking has been recognized for its increasing significance in the marketplace, and I am honored to represent that perspective in this important forum." The council meets with the board three times annually. The first meeting is scheduled for February 22 and 23. Grimes is one of seven new appointees whose terms began January 1. About NetBank(R) NETBANK, Inc., (Nasdaq: NTBK) (http://www.netbank.com), is a financial services company whose wholly owned subsidiary, NetBank, Member FDIC, is the first profitable pure Internet bank in the country, having achieved profitability in the past eleven consecutive quarters. With more than $1.8 billion in assets and customers in all 50 states and 20 foreign countries, NetBank was recognized as the best online bank by readers of Worth magazine in its 2000 "Readers' Choice Awards" survey and as a Money.com pick for "Best Online Banks." With its low-cost, branchless business model, NetBank is able to reward its customers with high interest rates on deposits with low- or no-fee banking services. Products and services include free online account access, free checking, free unlimited online bill payment and presentment, free unlimited ATM use, VISA(R) check card, VISA(R) credit card, online brokerage services, mortgage lending, home equity lines and loans, insurance, IRAs, online safe deposit boxes, and business equipment leasing services. NetBank is a member of the AFFN, Cirrus, Honor/Star, NYCE and MAC ATM networks. For more information on NetBank, its products and services, visit the Web site at http://www.netbank.com, or call 1-888-BKONWEB (256-6932). SOURCE NetBank, Inc. CO: NetBank, Inc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GATX Corporation and GATX Capital Corporation Report On GATX/Airlog Litigation
CHICAGO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- GATX Corporation and GATX Capital Corporation today reported on the conclusion of the first phase of a trial that is currently underway in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California to which GATX Capital is a party. As noted in detailed descriptions in the GATX Corporation and GATX Capital filings on forms 10-Q and 10-K, GATX Capital is party to litigation arising from the issuance by the Federal Aviation Administration of Airworthiness Directive 96-01-03, the effect of which significantly reduced the amount of freight that ten 747 aircraft were authorized to carry. These aircraft were modified from passenger to freighter configuration between 1988 and 1994 by subcontractors of GATX/Airlog, a California partnership in which a subsidiary of GATX Capital is a partner. GATX Capital previously reached settlements covering five of the aircraft, and the remaining five are the subject of this trial. The first phase of the trial concluded on Friday, February 16. The jury found that GATX/Airlog breached its warranties under the applicable aircraft modification agreements, and fraudulently failed to disclose information to the operators of the aircraft. The second phase of the trial to determine damages to be awarded to the plaintiffs is expected to conclude within three weeks. While the amounts claimed in this matter are substantial, the extent of liability with respect to such claims cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. However, once finally determined, the amount required to be paid will be material to the results of operations in a given period for GATX Capital and GATX Corporation, and may have a material adverse effect on the financial condition of these parties. The company is currently evaluating the amount of estimated reserves that may be required for payment of damages. The accrual for estimated reserves will be considered a subsequent event in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and as such will be reflected in 2000 results. Jesse V. Crews, president of GATX Capital Corporation, stated, "We strongly believe that throughout the course of the trial GATX/Airlog offered evidence showing that it did not breach its obligations under the terms of the modification agreements and made all required disclosures to its customers. In that regard, the jury's decision is disappointing. This is an extremely complex case invol |