ALICO
ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF FORECLOSURE AGREEMENT
La
Belle, FL., July 23, 2010 --
Alico, Inc., (NASDAQ: ALCO) a land management company, announced today
that a Lee County judge signed a Final Summary Judgment of Foreclosure
pertaining to a mortgage on a parcel of land in Lee County sold by Alico’s
Alico-Agri, Ltd subsidiary to Ginn-La Naples, Ltd., LLLP.
Under the
terms of the foreclosure, a date has been set for public auction for Wednesday,
August 18, 2010 at 9:00 am EDT. Alico-Agri, by virtue of its
mortgage, has the option to retain the property up to a bid of $52.2 million,
allow for the sale of the property to a third party bidder, or place bids in
excess of the mortgage amount. In the event that a bid exceeds the
mortgage balance, the property will be awarded to the highest
bidder. Alico-Agri additionally holds $1.7 million of tax
certificates on the property, which must be redeemed by a third party if the
third party is the winning bidder.
If the
property is retained by Alico-Agri, the net effect of the transaction would be
to cancel the mortgage note, reduce accrued commissions payable, surrender the
tax certificates and reclassify the net balance of $6.5 million as basis in the
property (calculated as the mortgage balance of $52.2 million less deferred
revenue of $45.1 million plus accrued interest of $0.3 million reduced by
accrued commissions of $2.6 million plus $1.7 million tax
certificates).
If the
property is acquired by a third party bidder, the transaction will be treated as
a sale. For book purposes the Company will recognize taxes to the
extent of any gain or loss recognized from a sale of the
property. For income tax purposes, the Company will utilize a
deferred tax asset related to the property which will serve to offset any income
tax for a sales price up to the mortgage amount, with any sale of the property
below the mortgage amount generating a tax loss.
The
property consists of a 4,157 acre parcel located next to Florida Gulf Coast
University in Lee County, Florida. The property has two approved Development
Orders, one for a 336 unit residential community and the second for a 27-hole
golf course. A portion of the property is an active aggregate mine. Under the
terms of the foreclosure and the contract, Alico-Agri released 399 acres of
property (outside of the areas associated with the two development orders) to
Ginn-La Naples in recognition of prior principal payments.
Alico’s
President and CEO JD Alexander stated, “This will likely bring final resolution
to this matter. The parcel is strategically positioned in an area
which has historically seen high growth due to its proximity to the Southwest
Florida Regional Airport and Florida Gulf Coast University. We
continue to evaluate our options regarding the future use of this
property.”
About
Alico, Inc.
Alico,
Inc., a land management company operating in Central and Southwest Florida, owns
approximately 135,500 acres of land located in Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and
Polk counties. Alico is involved in various agricultural operations and real
estate activities. Alico's mission is to grow its asset values through its
agricultural and real estate activities to produce superior long-term returns
for its shareholders.
For
Further Information Contact:
JD
Alexander
La Belle,
Florida
(863)
675-2966
Statements
in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that
could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from
the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are
also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from
time to time in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.