American Capital Agency, a mortgage REIT that was formed by American Capital Strategies (ACAS) to invest in Agency securities, priced its IPO at $20 as expected. While the company sold only 10 million shares (versus 12.5 million as originally planned), the latest statement filed with the SEC on Wednesday suggests that parent ACAS purchased 5 million shares in a concurrent private placement and may acquire an additional 2.5 million shares in the private placement, which would result in a 43% ownership stake. Citi and Merrill Lynch acted as joint book-running managers for the offering, and the stock is expected to commence trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "AGNC" on Thursday.
Mortgage REIT Journal will begin covering the stock tomorrow. AGNC joins Hatteras Financial (HTS) as the newest agency mREITs on the block.
