CreXus Investment IPO Falls From Offering Price

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of real estate investment trust CreXus Investment Corp. fell Thursday, their first day of trading, as the stock made its debut about 3 percent below the initial public offering price of $15 per share.

In afternoon trading, shares had fallen 49 cents, or 3.3 percent, from the offering price to $14.51, after opening at $14.50.

The company will acquire, manage, and finance commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate debt, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and other commercial real estate-related assets.

It had agreed to sell 13.3 million shares of common stock in its initial public offering.

Details of the offering were announced by Annaly Capital Management Inc., whose subsidiary Fixed Income Discount Advisory Co. will be the external manager of CreXus.

Concurrent with the offering, Annaly said it is acquiring 4.5 million shares of CreXus at a price of $15 each.

Shares of CreXus common stock began trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CXS."

Gross proceeds from the offering are expected to be about $200 million.

Deutsche Bank Securities and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint book-running managers, with JMP Securities, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, and RBC Capital Markets acting as co-managers.

CreXus has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2 million to cover over-allotments, if any.