Thornburg Stockholders OK Big Share Boost

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., a troubled real estate investment trust based in Santa Fe, N.M., has announced stockholder approval of an increase in the number of authorized shares of capital stock from 500 million to 4 billion. The shareholders also okayed amendments to the company's charter to modify the terms of all Thornburg's series of preferred stock, eliminating substantially all voting rights of preferred stockholders and making preferred stock dividend payments noncumulative, among other things. The company said it must still obtain consents from holders of each series of preferred stock before the modifications can take effect. "Winning shareholder approval of management's proposals marks a milestone achievement in our efforts to rebuild the company and resume more normal business operations," said Larry A. Goldstone, president and chief executive officer of Thornburg Mortgage. Thornburg completed a $1.35 billion private placement in recent months after announcing that it had to raise nearly $1 billion to keep in place a key agreement with counterparties involved in potentially material margin calls it had been facing. The company can be found online at http://www.thornburgmortgage.com.