1stPlus Says Talks Still Under Way

FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., Dallas, has announced that it "remains strongly engaged in finding a suitable strategic partner" and that discussions with more than one party are under way.The announcement came after a selloff of FirstPlus shares Monday and Tuesday morning in the wake of a report in National Mortgage News that General Electric Capital Corp., Stamford, Conn., had considered but decided against buying FirstPlus, the nation's largest high-LTV originator/servicer. "There has been much speculation about our efforts, but we have made significant progress and we hope to resolve the matter in the next few weeks," said Daniel T. Phillips, chairman and chief executive officer of FirstPlus. Mr. Phillips said the company is attractive to prospective buyers because of its retail capability. "In the consolidating financial services industry, companies are looking for this platform as a way to sell products and cross-sell their own," he said.