Maguire Properties Inc

Maguire Properties Inc., a Los Angeles real estate investment trust under siege from some of its largest investors, reported a wider fourth-quarter loss Tuesday as its interest payments ate into earnings. The company's loss climbed to $44.5 million, or 95 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $8.77 million, or 19 cents. Funds from operations, a key measure of REITs' performance, fell to $7.76 million, or 14 cents a share, from $32.9 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier.

Los Angeles office landlord Maguire Properties Inc., which emerged in May from a nearly yearlong takeover battle, reported its third consecutive quarterly loss Monday. The real estate investment trust, or REIT, which owns many premier office buildings in downtown Los Angeles and Orange County, lost $110.6 million in the second quarter. It also saw the departure of founder Robert Maguire in May after the board of directors rejected his bid to buy the company and appointed new managers.

Maguire Properties Inc. appointed Martin A. Griffiths chief financial officer, replacing Dallas Lucas, who is leaving the firm. Lucas resigned from Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties effective March 2 "to pursue other interests," the company said. Griffiths has been executive vice president responsible for operations since July. He previously worked at Deloitte Tax and Arthur Andersen.

Days after announcing it would buy 23 Southern California office buildings for almost $3 billion, Maguire Properties Inc. is putting 17 properties on the block. The Los Angeles developer and landlord wants to sell buildings in Glendale, San Diego and Orange County totaling almost 4.7 million square feet of space, according to an offering being circulated to investors. A representative for Maguire declined to comment Friday.

Maguire Properties Inc. agreed to sell Pacific Center and Wateridge Plaza in San Diego County for $298 million. Maguire expects the sale of the two office properties to close in the second quarter, the Los Angeles-based company said. Maguire didn't name the buyer. The proceeds will help pay for $2.88 billion in Los Angeles and Orange County buildings that Maguire bought from Blackstone Group.

A corporate battle for control of the largest office landlord in downtown Los Angeles picked up steam after Maguire Properties Inc. said it would consider a sale of the company. Its stock jumped nearly 12% Wednesday on the news. At the center of the tussle is the firm's flamboyant founder, Robert F. Maguire, who has a reputation as a real estate visionary and autocratic leader.

Maguire Properties Inc., the largest office landlord in downtown Los Angeles, could be a takeover target as the real estate boom may have made its properties worth more than the company as a whole. Shares of the Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust climbed 7% on Monday after an industry newsletter reported that Maguire had hired investment bankers to shop the company.

Maguire Properties Inc., the largest owner of downtown Los Angeles office buildings, said first-quarter funds from operations rose 4.1% to $20.2 million, or 47 cents a share. Revenue at the real estate investment trust rose 33%, to $92.4 million, thanks to a 53% jump in rental income.