NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE: NRF) announced today the pricing of an $800 million collateralized debt obligation, N-Star Real Estate CDO IX, Ltd. ("CDO IX"). The offering is the ninth CDO issuance sponsored by NorthStar.

Approximately $759.0 million of investment grade-rated notes will be sold in CDO IX, representing approximately 95.0% of the total capitalization of the CDO. NorthStar will retain all $41.0 million of the Income Notes and below investment grade-rated notes. NS Advisors LLC, a subsidiary of NorthStar, will be the collateral advisor for CDO IX. The CDO is expected to close on or about February 28, 2006.

Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have given a AAA rating to $656.0 million, or approximately 82.0%, of CDO IX. The CDO has an expected weighted average life of 12 years. The AAA-rated Class A-1 Notes were priced at a floating rate of LIBOR plus 0.255%. The weighted average initial yield on the $759 million of notes sold to fund NorthStar's portfolio is LIBOR plus 0.32% and the portfolio is expected to have a weighted average credit rating of BBB-.

The total collateral value of the portfolio is expected to be approximately $800 million. Approximately 70.4% of the portfolio is comprised of commercial mortgage-backed securities and the remainder consists of debt of real estate investment trusts and other commercial real estate-related debt.

The securities being offered have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.

NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. is an internally managed REIT that originates and invests in commercial real estate debt, real estate securities and net lease properties. For more information about NorthStar Realty Finance Corp., please visit http://www.nrfc.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain items in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward- looking statements; NorthStar Realty can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NorthStar Realty's expectations include, but are not limited to changes in economic conditions generally and the real estate and bond markets specifically, legislative or regulatory changes (including changes to laws governing the taxation of REITs), availability of capital, interest rates and interest rate spreads, policies and rules applicable to REITs, the continued service of key management personnel, the effect of competition in the real estate finance industry, the costs associated with compliance and corporate governance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related regulations and requirements, and other risks detailed from time to time in NorthStar Realty's SEC reports. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. NorthStar Realty expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

Source: prnewswire