UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
November 5, 1997
(Date of earliest event reported)
Commission File Number: 0-18201
EQUIVEST FINANCE, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Florida 59-2346270
(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
Incorporation or organization)
2 CLINTON SQUARE, SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 13202
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (315) 422-9088
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Item 5. Other Events
PRESS RELEASE
Equivest Finance, Inc.
Announces Recapitalization
Syracuse, New York, November 5, 1997. Equivest Finance, Inc. (NASD-
EQUI) announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Bennett
Funding Group, Inc. ("BFG"), its major shareholder, to cancel the entire net
outstanding debt owing to BFG by Equivest and its subsidiary of approximately
$25 million, in exchange for the issuance of common stock, $0.05 par value,
of Equivest. Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval in
BFG's bankruptcy proceedings, 4,645,596 shares (the "New Shares") of newly
issued Equivest common stock would be exchanged for the cancellation of the
approximately $25 million in debt owed to BFG.
If approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the proposed transaction would
reduce Equivest's interest expense by approximately $1.9 million per year.
This reduction in expense represents an annual pre-tax savings of
approximately $0.09 per share on a fully diluted basis, after giving effect
to the issuance of the New Shares. Equivest's net worth would rise from
$6,270,300 at September 30 to $31,240,400 after giving effect to the
transaction. Book value per share would increase from $0.37 per share at
September 30, 1997, to $1.43 per share after giving effect to the
transaction.
Richard C. Breeden, Chairman and CEO of Equivest, stated: "If approved
by the court, this transaction will strengthen the company's balance sheet
dramatically while also increasing earnings per share. This will enable the
company to take advantage of future opportunities, and will benefit all
shareholders."
The proposed transaction has been ratified by the Official Committee of
Unsecured Creditors of BFG, and by the independent directors of Equivest.
Contact:Ben Cesare of Shandwick USA at (212)420-8100 ext. 233
Richard C. Breeden at (315)422-9000 ext. 377
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may
be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as
"believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "planned," "estimated," and
"potential." These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's
current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to
comply with the terms of the safe harbor, the Company notes that a variety
of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially
from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-
looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the
operations, performance, development, and results of the Company's businesses
include a downturn in the real estate cycle or other factors which result in
lower sales of vacation ownership interests, possible financial difficulties
of one or more of the developers with whom the Company does business,
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including the risk of carrying non-performing assets or losses if defaulted
loans prove to have insufficient collateral backing, fluctuations in interest
rates, prepayments by consumers of indebtedness, inability of developers to
honor replacement obligations for defaulted consumer notes, and competition
from organizations with greater financial resources.
