Fitch Downgrades iStar

The Issuer Default Rating and outstanding debt ratings of iStar Financial Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust, have been downgraded from BBB to BBB-minus by Fitch Ratings. The rating outlook remains negative. Fitch said the downgrades were "driven primarily by the decrease in the earnings power of iStar's loan portfolio, due to asset impairments and loan loss provisions of nearly $725 million that iStar will have taken between Sept. 30, 2007, the first quarter in which iStar owned the assets associated with the Fremont Investment & Loan transaction, and June 30, 2008." Moody's Investors Service recently downgraded iStar's ratings from Baa2 to Baa3, citing the commercial REIT's announcement that it expected to take increased loan provisions of $275 million for the second quarter. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com, and iStar can be found at http://www.istarfinancial.com.