Ocwen Financial Corporation, (NYSE:OCN), a financial services holding company, has announced that the 62,000 outstanding shares of its Series A Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock were converted into common stock and immediately repurchased and cancelled.

“This transaction is in addition to our strategy to repurchase shares of common stock roughly equivalent to our prior period earnings pursuant to our previously announced share repurchase program,” commented Bill Erbey, Ocwen’s Executive Chairman. “It is an effective way for us to reduce the number of shares outstanding without materially reducing our stockholders equity. Additionally, it reduces the dilution impact on our existing common shareholders and eliminates future preferred dividends. We are also pleased that Wilbur Ross will remain on the Ocwen Board of Directors.”
Wilbur Ross added, “This sale was made to provide liquidity to maturing funds and does not reflect a change in our enthusiasm for Ocwen and its management, or my continuing role on the Ocwen Board of Directors.”
Repurchase Letter Agreement:
On July 14, 2014, Ocwen entered into a Repurchase Letter Agreement with funds managed by WL Ross & Co. pursuant to which the 62,000 outstanding shares of its Preferred Stock were converted into common stock and immediately repurchased and cancelled. The aggregate purchase price was approximately $72.3 million. The price of approximately $37 per share was derived based on the 10-day volume weighted average price on July 7.
Additional detail on the Repurchase Letter Agreement may be found in Ocwen’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.