Ladder Capital Goes Public, Cantor Commercial Could be Next
By Gus Delaporte February 7, 2014 12:15 pm
reprintsShares in commercial real estate finance firm Ladder Capital ended the first day of trading largely unchanged, falling 1 cent on Thursday to $16.99. The company had priced 13.25 million shares at $17, raising $225 million, late Wednesday.
Trading under the symbol LADR on the New York Stock Exchange, the company’s shares rose 14 cents, or .82 percent, to $17.13, as of 12:12pm on Friday.
Founded in 2008, Ladder Capital is backed by TowerBrook Capital Partners and GI Partners. The company specializes in the origination of commercial real estate mortgage loans of between $5 million and $100 million.
Ladder’s trading debut followed the news that another commercial lending business, Cantor Commercial Real Estate, is planning an initial public offering. The Cantor Fitzgerald affiliate has hired Deutsche Bank to lead the effort, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Early investors in Cantor Commercial, including CIM Group, are looking to sell their ownership stakes in the business, according to the Journal. CIM Group invested $350 million and owns 55 percent of the business, according to a Standard & Poor’s report cited by the Journal. Cantor Fitzgerald owns 11 percent.
