Alan B. Levan, the chairman and chief executive officer of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has more than one company getting stung by the housing market's troubles.
Mr. Levan is also the chairman and CEO of Levitt Corp., which announced late Friday that its home building subsidiary, Levitt & Sons LLC, has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 the federal Bankruptcy Code. (BankAtlantic spun off Levitt Corp. three years ago.)
In addition, Mr. Levan is the chairman and CEO of BFC Financial Corp., which owns a 16% stake in BankAtlantic and a 19.6% stake in Levitt Corp.
After the market closed Friday, Levitt Corp. said it swung to a third-quarter loss of $169.2 million, or $8.37 a share, from a profit of $3 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. It also said Levitt & Sons had submitted a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale.
"The home building industry, particularly in Florida, has experienced unprecedented declines with an oversupply of inventory and waning demand, exacerbated by the recent disruptions in the credit markets," Mr. Levan said in Levitt Corp.'s earnings press release.
BFC announced a $286 million deal in January to acquire Levitt Corp. but called it off eight months later without giving a reason.
BankAtlantic also was hit hard by the turmoil in the housing market, but its stock continued to recover Monday from the 40% slide it took after reporting a $29.6 million third-quarter loss related to real estate problems. The shares had risen 3.5% by Monday afternoon, to $4.11, after rising 10% Friday, 11% Thursday, and 10% Wednesday.
