The Santa Fe, N.M., jumbo lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc. said two directors whose firm provided financing to keep it out of bankruptcy last year have resigned, because of potential conflicts of interest.
Thornburg said Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that David Matlin and Mark Patterson, the cofounders of the New York buyout firm MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, have stepped down from the board.
In a letter to Thornburg, Matlin and Patterson wrote that the resignations were not a result of any disagreement with the company or the board.
An agreement Thornburg signed in March of last year with lenders to get a one-year reprieve from margin calls is scheduled to expire today. Thornburg said Friday that it was in talks with those lenders, which include Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., to extend the reprieve until March 31.
Thornburg is "considering various strategic alternatives available to facilitate the restructuring of the financing agreements," the filing said.
Shares of Thornburg have plunged more than 99% in the past year and were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the housing crisis made the company's mortgage-backed securities almost worthless. The stock now sells over the counter for 5 cents.
