NEW YORK CITY — C-III Capital Partners LLC (C-III) has acquired the commercial real estate special servicing and CDO management businesses of JER Partners (JER), a private real estate investment management company. As a result of the acquisition, C-III will merge JER’s special servicing operations into its wholly-owned subsidiary, C-III Asset Management LLC, already a highly rated primary and special servicer of commercial real estate loans.
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; including these loans, 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 L. 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,” added 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.”
C-III’s acquisition of JER’s special servicing and CDO management businesses follows 16 months of growth. The company commenced operations with the purchase of Centerline Capital Group’s commercial loan servicing and institutional real estate debt fund management businesses in March 2010, and since that time, the venture 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.
C-III Asset Management's clients include issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), institutional lenders and other investors. The subsidiary 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.
— Dan Marcec