AFRT Files Paperwork for IPO

American Financial Realty Trust, Jenkintown, Pa., has filed a registration statement for an initial public offering.The joint book-running managers are Banc of America Securities LLC, Charlotte, N.C., and Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Richmond, Va. AFRT said it cannot predict when the registration statement will become effective, although it has targeted the second quarter of this year. Among AFRT's management team are its chairman, Lewis S. Ranieri (widely known as "the father of the mortgage-backed security"), and its chief executive, Nicholas S. Schorsch. Net proceeds of the IPO will be used to fund the acquisition of properties owned or leased by financial institutions. The IPO will include shares to be sold by existing nonmanagement shareholders if they exercise registration rights.