Capital management firm changes name, moves

A Wichita-based capital management firm that was targeted a year ago by state securities investigators has a new name and a new office location.

Benessere Holdings, once known as Lion Share Capital, has leased 3,400 square feet of office space in Real Development's Wichita Executive Centre at 125 N. Market, according to Real Development partner Dave Lundberg.

The lease is Benessere's only business relationship with Real Development, Lundberg said. The Minnesota developers are trying to raise capital to pay off local debts and trigger their Exchange Place residential project.

In December 2009, the Kansas Securities Commissioner's office put Lion Share under a cease-and-desist order alleging that it violated the state's Uniform Securities and Loan Brokers acts by collecting more than $550,000 to find lenders for more than 20 companies in Kansas and across the United States.

The order alleged that Lion Share was charging clients an advance fee for obtaining a lender, while obtaining an equity stake in several of the companies along with the advance fee.

The securities commissioner has taken no further action since the cease-and-desist order, but a source close to the case said state securities investigators have continued to gather information about the company.

Megan Bottenberg, a spokeswoman for the securities commissioner, said Tuesday that she could not confirm or deny any ongoing investigation.

The lease, signed in July, was rent free for three months, Lundberg said. It grew out of the developer's longtime association with Greg Buss, the Lion Share official who brokered Lundberg's initial Wichita building purchases.

Beginning Nov. 1, the company will begin paying rent, Lundberg said. Lion Share was located at 110 S. Main, Suite 410, until this summer.

"They moved in with exactly zero dollars for a buildout," Lundberg said. "They took the space as is.

"In a normal lease, we'd spend six months to a year of rent on the buildout. This way they got three months."

Buss did not return calls for comment this week.

This story was originally published October 27, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Capital management firm changes name, moves."