More Details on Mystery Debtor

Perhaps you recently heard that Iberiabank Corp. had $9.2 million in past due loans from a charter aircraft company in Northwest Arkansas.

Iberiabank of Lafayette, La., didn’t name names in this fourth-quarter earnings lick, but we think we can.

Aspen-Jetride, a charter flight service company, fits the profile of the unnamed company on the wrong side of the past due loans.

It was reported that an Iberiabank client in liquidation was formed by a set investors, one of whom had substantial net worth. It’s also was said that the death of the main investor in the aircraft company ultimately sent it into a tailspin from which it never pulled out.

We reported that Aspen-Jetride closed in November 2008. Let us rephrase: during Iberiabank’s fourth quarter.

Aspen-Jetride was originally Pinnacle Air before the 2006 acquisition of Jetride and the 2008 acquisition of Aspen Executive Air.

J.B. Hunt, founder of J.B. Hunt Transportation, was an investor of Pinnacle Air, and after his death, Hunt’s wife, Johnelle, began divesting from the group.
You might recall that Pinnacle Air was founded by the original Pinnacle Group of Tim Graham, the late J.B. Hunt, Bill Schwyhart and Robert Thornton.

The Pinnacle Group has since split, with Graham and Johnelle Hunt keeping the name while Schwyhart and Thornton formed Pinnacle Investments. Last year, Johnelle Hunt and Graham sued Schwyhart and Thornton over $6 million in loan defaults held by Aspen-Jetride. Hunt and Graham also sued Chicago billionaire John Calamos, who in April 2008 became the controlling shareholder in the company.