Regions Southeast
St. Joe Co. Secures $100M Credit Line
Sept 25, 2008
By: Tonie Auer, Southwest Correspondent

After posting a $21 million net loss for the second quarter, replacing its retiring CEO and chairman and elimination the position of executive vice president and chief strategy officer, The St. Joe Company entered into a new credit facility with an aggregate principal amount of $100 million with an option to increase the facility to $200 million through syndication with Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T).

The new secured facility matures on Sept. 19, 2011. At the time of the announcement, Jacksonville, Fla.,-based St. Joe had not drawn any funds on the facility. This credit facility replaces Joe’s existing facility with Wachovia Bank, National Association and other lenders. == St. Joe has no current plans to draw on this new facility, but wanted to increase the firm’s financial flexibility to provide stability in current market conditions, according to a St. Joe prepared statement.

On June 13, the company announced an “organizational change designed to respond to continuing difficult market conditions and reduced business operations resulting from the restructuring plan it implemented in late 2007. As a result, the position of executive vice president and chief strategy officer was eliminated, and Chris Corr has left the company.”

In August, the company released its second quarter figures, which showed a net loss for the second quarter of $20.8 million, compared to net income of $25.3 million for the second quarter of 2007, a decrease of $46.1 million.

On Aug 12, CPN reported that Peter Rummell, former CEO of The St. Joe Co., Florida's largest private landowner, was chosen as the new CEO of the North Palm Beach, Fla.,-based Nicklaus Cos. Rummell, 62, retired from St. Joe in May and will take over his new position in mid-August, according to the Nicklaus Cos.

Rummell was chairman and CEO of St. Joe from 1997 till his retirement. In that time, he led the company’s transition from a regional conglomerate focused on papermaking into one of Florida’s largest and most successful real estate operating companies. St. Joe owns approximately 600,000 acres in Florida, mostly in the northwest part of the state.

Hugh M. Durden took over as chairman of the St. Joe board of directors in August.  The publicly held St. Joe Company is one of Florida's largest real estate development companies engaged primarily in real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber.

 
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