CoreVest Announces Acquisition by Redwood Trust
NEW YORK, NY and Irvine, Ca.—October 16, 2019— CoreVest American Finance, LLC (“CoreVest”) has announced that Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE: RWT) has purchased CoreVest American Finance Lender LLC, a leading nationwide originator and portfolio manager of business-purpose residential loans (BPLs), and several of its affiliates (“CoreVest”), from certain affiliates of Fortress Investment Group’s credit funds business (“Fortress Sellers”) and CoreVest Management Partners LLC (“Management Seller” and together with the Fortress Sellers, “Sellers”). CoreVest was started in 2014 to address the unique financing needs of residential real estate investors and successfully built the business into the market leader, having funded over $4 billion in loans since inception. Collectively, the platform and assets will significantly expand Redwood’s presence in the BPL market, furthering its position as a leading private-sector source of housing-market liquidity.
Beth O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer of CoreVest, said, “We are very excited to be joining forces with Redwood. Our team has built an amazing platform and brand, and we’re poised to enter a new phase of growth by leveraging Redwood’s significant, permanent capital base and deep residential credit expertise. Our clients will continue to experience our high level of service, but with an even greater commitment to delivering customized funding solutions at highly competitive rates.”
“Demand for our rental and bridge loan products continues to strengthen. Joining Redwood will enable us to further expand our platform and remain the financing partner of choice for investors,” added Ryan McBride, CoreVest’s Chief Operating Officer.
“CoreVest and Redwood have a shared view of the sizeable investor loan market opportunity. We look forward to combining our capital markets experience with Redwood’s 25 years of experience in housing finance to expand the BPL platform,” commented Christopher Hoeffel, Chief Financial Officer of CoreVest.
Christopher Abate, Redwood’s Chief Executive Officer added, “CoreVest is a best-in-class operator in the business-purpose lending sector, an area of residential lending that increases liquidity in the housing market by enabling investors to efficiently finance purchases of both single-family and multifamily investment properties. Additionally, CoreVest is the standard-bearer for BPL securitizations, having completed more such transactions than any other issuer. Integrating the CoreVest operations and suite of products with our own market-leading consumer mortgage banking and securitization platform will create the preeminent specialty finance operator in our industry.”
Dashiell Robinson, Redwood’s President also commented, “This acquisition reflects our strong belief that this area of housing credit offers substantial opportunity for growth and accretive returns for our shareholders. While our consumer mortgage business is thriving and continues to grow, financing alternatives for housing investors remain sparse,” Robinson added.
Abate concluded, “On behalf of our Board and our employees, I am very excited to welcome the talented CoreVest team into the Redwood family.”
Piper Jaffray & Co. served as the sole financial advisor to CoreVest and to the Sellers.
About CoreVest
CoreVest is the leading lender to residential real estate investors, nationwide. It offers long-term loans for stabilized rental properties as well as short-term bridge loans and investment credit lines. With more than $6 billion in closed loans and 40,000 units financed, CoreVest offers attractive rates, rapid timelines and closing certainty. The company works directly with borrowers, brokers and correspondent partners. For more information, visit www.corevestfinance.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to Redwood’s acquisition of CoreVest American Finance Lender LLC, the strength of demand for CoreVest’s rental and bridge loan products, and Redwood’s belief that the business-purpose lending area of housing credit offers substantial opportunity for growth and accretive returns for Redwood’s shareholders. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Redwood’s actual results may differ from its beliefs, expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, investors should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements are not historical in nature and can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “seek,” “plan” and similar expressions or their negative forms, or by references to strategy, plans, or intentions. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, those described in Redwood’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 under the caption “Risk Factors.” Other risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected may be described from time to time in reports Redwood files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Redwood undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.