C-III Capital Partners Acquires Special Servicing and CDO Management Businesses from JER Partners

Posted by on Aug 31, 2011

C-III Capital Partners LLC (C-III) announced today that it has acquired the commercial real estate special servicing and CDO management businesses of JER Partners (JER), a private real estate investment management company. JER is the named special servicer for $35.5 billion of commercial real estate loans, of which approximately $4 billion is currently in special servicing and under active management.

C-III will merge JER’s special servicing operations into its wholly-owned subsidiary, C-III Asset Management LLC, which is a highly rated primary and special servicer of commercial real estate loans. With the acquisition, C-III is now the named special servicer for approximately 14,000 loans with an aggregate balance in excess of $152 billion, of which approximately $17 billion is currently in special servicing.

“This acquisition strengthens C-III’s position as one of the top three special servicers in the country and advances our growth strategy,” said Andrew Farkas, Chairman and CEO of C-III Capital Partners. “Special servicing is a key foundation of our strategy to create a fully diversified commercial real estate company.”

“JER’s servicing portfolio, depth of experience and industry expertise will be a great fit with C-III,” stated Paul Smyth, President of C-III Asset Management. “We look forward to integrating their exceptional team of professionals into our expanding, highly experienced C-III team.”

The acquisition of JER’s special servicing and CDO management businesses follows 16 months of tremendous growth for C-III. C-III commenced operations with the purchase of Centerline Capital Group’s commercial loan servicing and institutional real estate debt fund management businesses in March 2010. Since that time, C-III has successfully launched mortgage origination, investment sales and title insurance businesses and expanded its principal investment, loan origination, fund management and primary and special loan servicing businesses. On June 22, 2011, C-III announced its agreement to acquire NAI Global, the largest network of independent commercial real estate services firms worldwide.

Financial terms of the transaction with JER were not disclosed.

About C-III Capital Partners

C-III Capital Partners LLC is a leading commercial real estate services company engaged in a broad range of activities, including primary and special loan servicing, loan origination, fund management and principal investment. The company’s principal place of business is located in Irving, TX, and it has additional offices in New York, NY, Greenville, SC and Nashville, TN.

C-III Asset Management LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of C-III Capital Partners, is a highly rated servicer (primary and special) of commercial real estate loans. Its clients include issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), institutional lenders and other investors. C-III Asset Management is rated “CPS 2-” by Fitch and “Above Average” by Standard & Poor’s as a primary servicer, and is one of the highest rated special servicers in the industry with ratings of “CSS 1-” by Fitch and “Strong” by Standard & Poor’s. For more information, visit www.c3cp.com.

About JER Partners

JER Partners is a fully integrated private real estate investment management company with 30 years of experience in sourcing, underwriting and managing a broad spectrum of real estate equity investments and debt products in the U.S. and Europe. Together with its financial and operating partners, JER Partners has purchased and managed approximately 15,000 assets totaling $28 billion. The firm also invests in CMBS, mezzanine financing and other structured debt products. For more information, visit www.jer.com.

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Andrew Farkas & Island Capital Group

Posted by on Aug 11, 2011

Andrew Farkas founded Island Capital Group (ICG) in May 2003 and currently serves as its Managing Member, Chairman and CEO.  Island Capital Group is a leading international real estate merchant bank engaged in a broad range of real estate related activities.  Through its headquarters in New York City, ICG pursues a broad range of real estate-related investments.  Its management team is comprised of individuals with financial expertise and true operating experience in order to view investments more critically and understand complex opportunities.

ICG has a unique strategy for identifying opportunities with a “top down” and “bottom up” method by taking a proactive approach to sourcing investments that is consistent with its investment thesis and leveraging its extensive network of brokerage, banking and institutional relationships.

Island Capital Group has six portfolio companies listed on its website: C-III Capital Partners, Centerline Holding Company, Island Global Yachting, Applied Technology & Management, ENSeC and ICG Realty.  ICG provides several services, which are listed under “Businesses” on its site: (1) advisory, consulting and asset management services, (2) commercial real estate loan servicing, (3) fund management, (4) principal investment and co-investment, and (5) development.

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