The family that runs the Hyatt Hotel chain has come to the rescue of an ailing Chicago-area thrift.
A spokesman for the Pritzker Family Interest said late Thursday that the Office of Thrift Supervision has approved the family's plan to recapitalize Superior Bank in Hinsdale, Ill., with a $230 million cash investment. The Pritzkers, which own nearly half of Superior's stock, would take over as full owners of the $2.1 billion-asset thrift.
Superior, a subprime mortgage and consumer lender, has had its problems in the last 18 months. In February, the OTS expressed concern about the solvency of the thrift because of mounting loan losses and a reliance on interest-only, strip receivables, which are residual interests in pools of high-risk, subprime loans that it securitizes.
Superior lost $6.8 million in the third quarter last year and $22 million in the fourth quarter, according to the OTS.
In February, Superior sold off $400 million in loans a day after Fitch Inc., a debt rating agency based in London and New York, reduced its rating on Superior's long-term debt from BBB to BB-minus - below investment grade.
