Lazard Freres Co

An affiliate of New York investment bank Lazard Freres & Co. agreed to pay $135 million for a 49.9% stake in ARV Assisted Living Inc., the rapidly growing operator of homes for the frail elderly. An official of Lazard Freres Real Estate Investors LLC said it's making the investment because it expects that the company's industry will experience "explosive growth."

ARV Assisted Living Inc. said it sold $60 million in convertible notes to an affiliate of Lazard Freres & Co., allowing the New York investment firm to boost its stake in the elderly care company to 28.2%. The transaction supplants an earlier agreement for Lazard to buy up to 49.9% of Costa Mesa-based ARV for $14 a share, or $135 million. That deal was subject to shareholder approval. The transaction also lessens the chances that another ARV suitor, Seattle-based Emeritus Corp.

ARV Assisted Living Inc., a Costa Mesa developer of housing for the elderly, said it settled all outstanding legal disputes with a Lazard Freres & Co. affiliate that owns 48% of ARV. The settlement ends more than a year of uncertainty about the future of ARV, which has sent its stock price plunging 63% over the last 12 months. The relationship between the two soured in April 1998 when the Lazard affiliate agreed to buy ARV competitor Atria Communities Inc.

The FBI has served a subpoena on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for records of financial agreements between the now-defunct Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and two major investment firms. MTA officials say they are cooperating with investigators and believe the request is part of a larger national investigation of the two firms, Merrill Lynch and Lazard Freres & Co. "We're supplying the information that we've been asked for," said Alan Pegg, executive officer for administration with the MTA. "This may be more of a securities industry than an MTA issue.

Former Lazard Freres & Co. partner Mark Ferber was convicted Friday of fraud and bribery by a federal jury that found he wronged his municipal clients by failing to disclose the financial terms of a fee-splitting contract with Merrill Lynch & Co. The decision is the highest-profile victory for prosecutors in the government's crackdown on unethical practices in the $1.3-trillion municipal bond market and adds impetus to the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation of Ferber.

ARV Assisted Living LLC said Thursday it adjourned its annual meeting this week for lack of a quorum--a rare event in the corporate world. The move reflects the legal tensions between the Costa Mesa operator of homes for the elderly and its largest shareholder. A real estate investment affiliate of the New York investment house Lazard Freres & Co., a unit that holds a 47.9% stake in ARV, didn't vote its shares at the meeting Wednesday morning. When only 48.

After months of indecision, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Tuesday that it is taking legal action against Wall Street investment bank Lazard Freres & Co. for allegedly overcharging the agency by millions of dollars on U.S. Treasury securities. But because the MTA did not act until after a private whistle-blower filed suit, the county may miss out on a good chunk of any possible damage awards.

Worried that its expansion plans are being undercut by an ally, ARV Assisted Living said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit to try to keep its largest shareholder from buying a Kentucky-based retirement home operator. The lawsuit is the latest twist in a knotty alliance formed last year between the Costa Mesa-based ARV, which also operates retirement centers, and an affiliate of the New York investment house Lazard Freres & Co. that now owns almost 50% of ARV.

A fund managed by investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co. said Monday that it agreed to buy up to 38% of Alexander Haagen Properties, one of Southern California's largest shopping center developers, for $235 million.

Lazard Freres & Co., one of Wall Street's most prestigious investment banks, is considering closing its municipal finance division amid mounting allegations of wrongdoing by the unit. In a related development, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed Monday that it has demanded that Lazard reimburse it for allegedly overcharging the agency on U.S. Treasury securities in a transaction arranged by Lazard's municipal finance unit in 1993.