Insignia Financial Group

Insignia Financial Group was a Delaware corporation, headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, engaged in the aggregation, management, and disposition of multifamily apartment complexes. Founded by Andrew L. Farkas with an initial capitalization of $5.5 million provided by an investor syndicate organized by Farkas, Insignia consummated the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of U.S. Shelter Corporation, a multifamily real estate syndicator, on December 31, 1990. Insignia was taken public in 1991 by a syndicate led by Lehman Brothers and Dillon, Read & Co. Its stock was listed on the NYSE under the symbol IFG.

Insignia was among the first companies to use tender offers to increase its ownership of limited partnerships owning multifamily property. Insignia refinanced substantial portions of its multifamily portfolio in bulk thfough the first two non cross collateralized real estate mortgage investment conduits, sponsored by Lehman Brothers, in 1992 and 1993.

Insignia sold its multifamily business to Apartment Investment and Management Company for $1.4 billion in 1999. The remainder of Insignia was sold for approximately $120 million to C.B. Richard Ellis in the Winter of 2003.