Conseco to sell consumer lender
CARMEL, Ind. (AP) - Conseco Inc. is looking for a buyer for a consumer lending operation
it paid $6 billion for just two years ago. Its stock price sank. Conseco said Friday it has hired
Lehman Brothers Inc. to assist with the sale of Conseco Finance Corp., which has $46 billion
in receivables. The Carmel-based financial service company also said it will write down by
approximately $350 million the value of its interest-only securities in the subsidiary. The
writedown will show up as a non-cash charge against previously disclosed 1999 earnings.
The unit was known as Green Tree Financial Corp. when Conseco acquired it 1998. The
company, then based in St. Paul, Minn., made loans primarily to buyers of manufactured
homes.