The Wall Street Journal-20080130-Tousa Sets Debt-Restructuring Plan

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Tousa Sets Debt-Restructuring Plan

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Homebuilder Tousa Inc., hit hard by a sharp downturn in the U.S. housing market, said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with plans for a quick and "painless" restructuring.

Tousa Chief Executive Antonio Mon said the Hollywood, Fla., company has already reached a restructuring pact with more than half of its senior bondholders that would trade their debt for the reorganized company's new common stock.

Tousa, which operates in Florida, the mid-Atlantic, Texas and the West, markets homes under the Engle Homes, Newmark Homes, Fedrick, Harris Estate Homes and Trophy Homes brands.

The company faced a deadline of today to make an interest payment on a debt it had already defaulted on.

The company, which listed total debt of $2.24 billion in its last quarterly report, posted a net loss of $619.7 million on revenue of $501.2 million in the third quarter of 2007.