Arbor Realty pays off short-term debt to restructure balance sheet

A Uniondale real estate investment trust has cleared away much of its short-term debt by paying of the balance of a $336 million loan from Wachovia Bank.

Arbor Realty Trust Inc. had owed  $113.7 million on the loan as of March 31. It paid off that amount using other credit sources, cash on hand and proceeds from the repayment of loans. Part of the financing for the payoff, a new $26 million loan, will be retired  before the end of its six-month term, Arbor said.

The company will record a gain from this transaction of about $150 million in its second quarter 2010 report.

"The completion of this transaction was our last significant remaining objective in completing the restructuring of our entire balance sheet," Ivan Kaufman, chief executive, said in a Tuesday news release.

"This effectively eliminates nearly all of our short-term recourse debt and generates a significant gain and increase to book value."

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