PhillyDeals: Hero, then entrepreneur, then outcast

M

arvin Roffman

was a Philadelphia hero in 1990, when the casino analyst was fired by brokerage

Janney Montgomery Scott L.L.C.

after he annoyed client

Donald Trump

by questioning if Trump's Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City would draw enough gamblers to pay what he had borrowed to build it.

Roffman was right about the Taj. And he won settlements from both Trump and Janney.

That helped launch Roffman into the money-management business, with former Janney colleague R. Peter Miller 3d, as Roffman Miller Associates Inc.

That partnership lasted most of the last two decades, longer than some much bigger corporate-banking and investment brands have lasted in this town.

But over time, growth and succession becomes a challenge at a lot of partnerships. Including those founded by people who don't back down for bigmouthed billionaires.

In February, Roffman sued Roffman Miller in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, alleging Roffman "was forced out" of his firm by Miller and his other partners.

According to the lawsuit, Miller offered to buy Roffman's stake in their firm in 2005, when

Roffman turned 65.

When they failed to agree on a price, according to the suit, the other partners pressed Roffman to work longer hours in Philadelphia and come up with more investment ideas. But "they knew that Roffman would not be able to continue his employment under such circumstances because, among other things, they knew he was a new father who provided principal care to his child" at his home in the beach resort of Rehoboth, Del., two hours away. Roffman "declined."

The suit also alleges Miller and the other partners "cut off" Roffman's access to financial information and clients. They stopped paying partner dividends. They removed an office photo of Roffman with TV stock impresario Louis Rukeyser. Eventually they "terminated" his job. Roffman wants damages.

Asked about the claims, Miller sent me to his attorney, Sidney L. Gold. "We intend to vigorously defend it," Gold told me. "It's our position the claims have no merit." They plan a written response by mid-May.

Lawyer Arthur L. Bugay, of Galfand Berger L.L.P., who filed the suit for Roffman, said he and his client declined to comment.

Home builder

Toll Bros. Inc.

surprised at least some of its bondholders Monday when it borrowed $400 million for "general corporate purposes" (which "may" include debt repayment) by selling new unsecured senior notes, due in 2017, at an effective yield of 9.25 percent. That is a lot higher than the 1.2 percent Toll is paying on its $331 million term loan.

Why borrow in such a weak home market? Because it's also a strong debt market: "We access the capital markets on an opportunistic basis, not when we absolutely need capital," Toll spokesman Frederick Cooper told me. "We saw an opportunity to do a deal at an attractive rate and term. We were able to jump on it."

He said Toll had planned to raise $250 million, but boosted it to $400 million: "There was lots of demand."

That still doesn't say what Toll will do with the money. "We hope Toll [Bros. Inc.] is not planning to acquire assets," Gimme Credit L.L.C. bond analyst Vicki Bryan told clients in a note. To the contrary, Credit Suisse Group analyst Daniel Oppenheim named Toll as a possible takeover candidate, following Pulte Homes Inc.'s $1.3 million purchase of rival Centex Corp., Bloomberg news reported. (Toll executive Bruce Toll is chairman of the group that owns this newspaper.)

Pensions & Investments magazine's daily newsletter sees the Center City-based U.S. arm of

Aberdeen Asset Management Inc.

as one possible acquirer for

Lincoln National Corp.'s

Center City-based

Delaware Investments

group, which is for sale.

Lincoln doesn't want to talk about it. But the two shops are, after all, across Market Street from each other, which could make a combination especially efficient, notes Matt Taylor of Cheswold Lane Asset Management in Berwyn.