Assured Guaranty Scores One From Wilbur Ross (AGO, MBI, ABK)

Banking, finance, and taxes

Published: February 29, 2008 8:23 am

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) may not be the largest household name for a bond insurer or financial guarantor when you consider the woes of Ambac Financial (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA (NYSE: MBI). But the company just scored a huge win this morning after it has been announced that Wilbur Ross is investing up to $1 Billion in the company.

The initial investment will run some $250 million to be used for purchasing common stock, and then there are performance hurdles and other issues that would allow the company to have another $750 million from Wilbur Ross.

Of course we heard the announcement that another bailout has hit a snag. Just because one buyer buys a foreclosure on your street doesn’t mean there won’t be more housing pain. But it may at least help signal that beginning of the end is closer rather than farther away.

Assured Guaranty shares are trading up 11% at $25.39 in early pre-market trading.

Jon C. Ogg
February 29, 2008

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