American Continental Corporation was a Phoenix, Arizona-based p. 108. real estate company of the 1970s and 1980s.

History

The company was created in 1978 pp. 161–163. as a spin-off of

American Financial Group American Financial Group, Inc. is an American financial services holding company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary businesses are insurance and investments. Lines of business American Financial Group's major insurance division operates as ...

, meant to do residential home construction. Its chairman was Charles Keating, who moved to Phoenix to run it. By 1981, Keating had two thousand employees on his payroll and was one of the largest land developers in Arizona, benefiting from a home building boom in the state. In February 1984, American Continental Corporation acquired the underperforming Lincoln Savings and Loan Association for $51 million. Much of American Continental's assets were in the form of Arizona real estate, junk bonds, and mortgage-backed securities. Lincoln Savings expanded into aggressive, risky land development deals and financial arrangements, including loans due to American Continental. For most of 1987, American Continental was profitable, but by 1988, losses mounted, due to financial troubles and other bad happenings at Lincoln Savings. By 1989, Lincoln made up 90 percent of American Continental's assets. On April 13, 1989, American Continental Corporation filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. It was liquidated by the court in December 1990. The loss of investors' life savings in Lincoln became one of the key events of the 1980s Savings and loan crisis and the core of the Keating Five political scandal.

Archival interest

An 1,800+ linear feet collection of archival records from the American Continental Corporation is available at the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Department of Archives and Special Collections and consists of correspondence files, architectural and land use plans, promotional and advertising materials, environmental impact reports, regulatory reports, trial records, attorneys records and financial records relating to the corporation and a number of its subsidiaries. The records extend from approximately 1971 to 1993. Access to certain parts of this collection are limited by court order.

References

External links

American Continental Corporation Records

Library. Greater Arizona Collection {{Authority control American companies established in 1976 Real estate companies established in 1976 Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona Defunct companies based in Arizona Savings and loan crisis Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989 1976 establishments in Arizona 1990 disestablishments in Arizona Defunct real estate companies of the United States