Filed under: Debt, The Dolans

We don’t mean to get too personal, but what’s your score? We’re talking about your credit score, of course. A few years back, no one knew their credit score. Today, people brag (or complain) about it at cocktail celebrations and compare scores over the water cooler at work!

That’s because knowing your credit score can have a huge impact on your wallet. Being a 640 versus a 690 means paying 12.2 percent versus 9.5 percent on your next loan, and that adds up to thousands of dollars in extra interest!

So, you already know that the higher your score the better. And you probably know the basics for keeping your score high-pay your bills on time, don’t carry too much credit card debt, etc.. But you might be surprised at some tiny known factors that can do some serious damage to your score.

In a world where one delinquent payment-just one-can drop your score 100 points, let’s look at eight credit score “no-no’s” that pack a real wallop:

1. Parking tickets and library fines. Yup, that $3.45 late fee from the library can single-handedly knock down your credit score. More and more local governments are reporting unpaid parking tickets, library fines and such to collections agencies and that can really hurt your score as you’ll see in just a moment…

2. Collections, liens and judgments have a huge negative impact on your score, no matter how small the amount. And they hurt for a long time! Even if you pay off a collection, it stays on your report for seven long years-tax liens for 15! Don’t let that happen. Your payment history counts for a whopping 35 percent of your score, so take care of any outstanding fines, and work with creditors to avoid your debt being turned over to collections in the first place.

3. Being a responsible consumer. It’s crazy, we know, but in credit score land, you’re punished for being responsible with your money. Your credit score will actually be injured if you pay off your credit card balance in full each month or simply don’t charge things on credit.

4. Shopping for a loan. If you’re shopping for the best rate on a mortgage or automobile loan, be sure to do all your comparison shopping in a short period of time. Every time someone looks at your credit rating at your request, it counts as an “inquiry” and stays on your report for two years. Too many inquiries lowers your score because it looks like you are about to open lots of new lines of credit. But if you complete your comparison shopping in a 14 day period, it will count as just one inquiry.

5. Unpaid or late utility bills. It used to be that utility companies only reported seriously delinquent accounts to the credit bureaus, but many are now reporting late or missed payments just like lenders do. Plus, utilities-including your electric, gas or phone company-are much quicker to turn late accounts over to collections agencies. If you are behind or can’t pay, contact your utility and work out a plan before that happens.

6. Consolidating your debt onto a low interest rate credit card. If you are carrying balances on several cards and get an offer for a low interest rate card, you might be tempted to transfer all of those balances to that new card. You save money, you lower your interest rate…and you sucker punch your credit score! The percentage of available credit used is a key factor in your score (how much you owe accounts for 30% of your score). By consolidating, you slash the amount of available credit and jack up the percentage of your credit used in one move-not good. Keep your balances to no more than 25-30% of your credit limit.

7. Closing old credit card accounts you don’t use. You might think that closing lines of credit you aren’t using sounds smart, but not so fast! The length of your credit history counts for 15% of your score, so closing older accounts is actually a negative. Plus remember how the percentage of credit used counts against you? Well, closing old accounts with no balances can increase the percentage of available balance you’re using-another no-no.

8. Bankruptcy and foreclosure. It won’t come as any surprise that these are the “big kahunas” when it comes to killing your credit score. But what may surprise you is how long they’ll continue to hurt your score. Bankruptcy stays on your record for 10 years and can easily drop your score 200 points. That means if you are lucky enough to even be able to get a loan, you’ll pay sky-high interest rates for the privilege.

Now we have one last huge surprise…an item that won’t injured your credit: credit counseling. If you’re in over your head and want to see a credit counselor for help, it won’t negatively impact your credit score one bit. To watch us debunk more credit score myths, click here to watch our new video on Dolans.com!

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Private equity industry

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PSEC) has announced it will raise funds in a public offering of three million shares of common stock, and Prospect will allow the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 450,000 shares of its common stock to cover over-allotments from underwriters.

The private equity and mezzanine finance company stated that it expects to use the net proceeds from this secondary offering to repay outstanding debt, to fund investments in portfolio companies, and for general corporate purposes.

Citi and Wachovia are the lead underwriters, and Oppenheimer, and RBC Capital Markets are listed the co-managers of this offering.

Continue reading at 247WallSt.com to hear about the implications and how this compares to the overall size of the company.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Texas Pacific Group, Private equity industry, Investments, Value and lack thereof

A new capital raise may have set a record, or at least close to it. Tygris Commercial Finance Group, Inc. has launched a new commercial finance company for middle markets transactions, and it states in the launch release that its funding is over $1.75 billion in equity commitments. Tygris says this is the largest initial capital raise ever in the U.S. commercial finance sector. Tygris will initially have offices in Chicago, Stamford, CT and Parsippany, NJ.

Tygris was founded by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC (”Aquiline”), a New York based private equity firm specializing in financial services, with New Mountain Capital, L.L.C. and TPG Capital joining as lead investors.

The company also claims to have established significant relationships with financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Barclays, Wachovia and Wells Fargo Foothill. With the backers and management team here on this, this seems enjoy it is easily within the realm of contacts.

The Company initially will concentrate on developing leading franchise positions in three commercial finance businesses: middle market corporate finance, middle market equipment leasing and asset finance, and small ticket leasing.

Below is the management team, and unless I’m missing something it looks like an impressive list of executives:

• Frederick E. “Rick” Wolfert, former Vice Chairman of Commercial Finance of the CIT Group and President of Heller Financial Inc., is the Company’s CEO.
• Steven F. Kluger, EVP, Capital Markets and Corporate Strategy; former President/CEO of GE Capital Markets.
• Stuart A. Armstrong, President of Corporate Finance; former President/CEO of Black Diamond Commercial Finance, former Senior Managing Director and Head of Corporate Lending’s vertical industry financing groups at GE Commercial Finance.
• Laird M. Boulden, President of Asset Finance (Chicago); former President/CEO of RBS Asset Finance, and President/co-founder of the Commercial Equipment Finance Group for Heller Financial Inc.
• Tim J. Eichenlaub, EVP, Chief Risk Officer; former Senior Managing Director and Group Head for CIT’s Sponsor Finance business.
• T. Doug Hollowell, EVP, General Counsel and Head of Depository Strategy; former Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Corporate Treasury, and General Counsel at Merrill Lynch Capital.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Private equity industry

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PSEC) has announced it will raise funds in a public offering of three million shares of common stock, and Prospect will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 450,000 shares of its common stock to cover over-allotments from underwriters.

The private equity and mezzanine finance company stated that it expects to use the net proceeds from this secondary offering to repay outstanding debt, to fund investments in portfolio companies, and for general corporate purposes.

Citi and Wachovia are the lead underwriters, and Oppenheimer, and RBC Capital Markets are listed the co-managers of this offering.

Continue reading at 247WallSt.com to hear about the implications and how this compares to the overall size of the company.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Investments

There is some interesting financing news this morning, even if the financing isn’t one of large proportions in private equity, venture capital, or in sovereign-type investments.

An OTC-BB listed stock called ZAP! (OTCBB: ZAAP), a US-based electric vehicle pure play, saw the completion of a financing pact this morning from Dubai-based The Al Yousuf Group. The total financing was a convertible debt placement in the amount of $475,000.00, but this is after the Al Yousuf Group purchased $5 million in ZAP! shares back in November.

The Al Yousuf Group is a manufacturing and distribution company in the U.A.E.

Read the full story at 247WallSt.com.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Texas Pacific Group, Private equity industry, Investments, Value and lack thereof

A new capital raise might have set a record, or at least close to it. Tygris Commercial Finance Group, Inc. has launched a new commercial finance company for middle markets transactions, and it states in the launch release that its funding is over $1.75 billion in equity commitments. Tygris says this is the largest initial capital raise ever in the U.S. commercial finance sector. Tygris will initially have offices in Chicago, Stamford, CT and Parsippany, NJ.

Tygris was founded by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC (”Aquiline”), a New York based private equity firm specializing in financial services, with New Mountain Capital, L.L.C. and TPG Capital joining as lead investors.

The company also claims to have established significant relationships with financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Barclays, Wachovia and Wells Fargo Foothill. With the backers and management team here on this, this seems care about it is easily within the realm of contacts.

The Company initially will concentrate on developing leading franchise positions in three commercial finance businesses: middle market corporate finance, middle market equipment leasing and asset finance, and small ticket leasing.

Below is the management team, and unless I’m missing something it looks like an impressive list of executives:

• Frederick E. “Rick” Wolfert, former Vice Chairman of Commercial Finance of the CIT Group and President of Heller Financial Inc., is the Company’s CEO.
• Steven F. Kluger, EVP, Capital Markets and Corporate Strategy; former President/CEO of GE Capital Markets.
• Stuart A. Armstrong, President of Corporate Finance; former President/CEO of Black Diamond Commercial Finance, former Senior Managing Director and Head of Corporate Lending’s vertical industry financing groups at GE Commercial Finance.
• Laird M. Boulden, President of Asset Finance (Chicago); former President/CEO of RBS Asset Finance, and President/co-founder of the Commercial Equipment Finance Group for Heller Financial Inc.
• Tim J. Eichenlaub, EVP, Chief Risk Officer; former Senior Managing Director and Group Head for CIT’s Sponsor Finance business.
• T. Doug Hollowell, EVP, General Counsel and Head of Depository Strategy; former Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Corporate Treasury, and General Counsel at Merrill Lynch Capital.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Apollo Management, Private equity industry, Public or private?

Metals USA Holdings Corp. filed to come public this morning via an initial public offering. The company is taking the proposed ticker of “MUX” on NYSE. For filing purposes, it intends to sell up to $200 million in common stock.

The company is one of the largest metal service center businesses in the United Says, and is a leading provider of value-added processed carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, red metals and manufactured metal components.

This is a private equity held company, and investment funds affiliated with Apollo Management, L.P. are the principal stockholders. Some proceeds will go to the company and some to shareholders, although those percentages haven’t been set. It also looks like the company will repurchase some or all of $300 million of senior floating rate notes with the proceeds.

Read the full story from 247WallSt.com.

Jon Ogg produces and edits the “10 Stocks Under $10″ newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Investments

There is some interesting financing news this morning, even if the financing isn’t one of big proportions in private equity, venture capital, or in sovereign-type investments.

An OTC-BB listed stock called ZAP! (OTCBB: ZAAP), a US-based electric vehicle pure play, saw the completion of a financing pact this morning from Dubai-based The Al Yousuf Group. The total financing was a convertible debt placement in the amount of $475,000.00, but this is after the Al Yousuf Group purchased $5 million in ZAP! shares back in November.

The Al Yousuf Group is a manufacturing and distribution company in the U.A.E.

Read the full story at 247WallSt.com.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Deals, Raising money, Merrill Lynch, Private equity industry, Value and lack thereof, Public or private?

Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ: CMLS) has announced that the management-led investor group has terminated the planned merger agreement. While there was a glimmer of hope that this was going to be rekindled, the deal spread on this was so wide that a fleet of trucks could have driven between it.

Cumulus has agreed with the investor group led by Lew Dickey, its Chairman, President and CEO, and an affiliate of Merrill Lynch’s (NYSE: MER) Global Private Equity, to terminate the merger agreement which first came on July 23, 2007. The members of the investor group informed Cumulus that after exploring possible alternatives they were unable to agree on terms on which they could proceed with the buyout.

As a result of the termination of the merger agreement, the investor group has agreed to promptly pay Cumulus a merger termination fee of $15 million. In addition, the terms of the previously announced amendment to Cumulus’ existing credit agreement will not take effect. Cumulus had a market cap of $253.6 million based upon a $5.81 close on Friday.

The company has also announced that its board of directors intends to explore the possible implementation of a new stock repurchase plan in the near-term in order to provide liquidity opportunities to stockholders.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Raising money, Apollo Management, Private equity industry, Public or private?

Metals USA Holdings Corp. filed to come public this morning via an initial public offering. The company is taking the proposed ticker of “MUX” on NYSE. For filing purposes, it intends to sell up to $200 million in common stock.

The company is one of the largest metal service center businesses in the United States, and is a leading provider of value-added processed carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, red metals and manufactured metal components.

This is a private equity held company, and investment funds affiliated with Apollo Management, L.P. are the principal stockholders. Some proceeds will go to the company and some to shareholders, although those percentages have not been set. It also looks like the company will repurchase some or all of $300 million of senior floating rate notes with the proceeds.

Read the full story from 247WallSt.com.

Jon Ogg produces and edits the “10 Stocks Under $10″ newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This