Mercury Secures $50 million in Financing

Mercury Finance Co. said it has secured $50 million in short-term financing from Bank of America, giving the troubled lender breathing room to work on longer-term financing. Mercury said the BofA financing, secured by the Lake Forest, Ill.-based company’s assets, will be used to meet day-to-day operating expenses and to cover interest payments coming due in the next few weeks. Mercury said it continues to serve customers at all its locations. Last week, Mercury said it was unable to refinance $61 million in short-term debt that had matured through Feb. 5 and that an additional $127 million will come due between then and Feb. 14. Shares rose 44 cents to close at $2.31 on the New York Stock Exchange. . . . In a separate development, Jayhawk Acceptance Corp., which filed for Bankruptcy Court protection last week, named Carl Westcott, the company’s largest shareholder, to lead it through bankruptcy reorganization.