Real estate investment trust (REIT) Hatteras Financial Corp. is acquiring Pingora Asset Management and Pingora Loan Servicing for an unspecified sum.
Pingora is a specialized asset manager focused on investing in new production performing mortgage servicing rights and servicing residential mortgage loans.
In a release, Hatteras officials say the acquisition will expand the REIT's relationships with mortgage originators and will also give it a platform for acquiring MSRs, an asset class that is complementary to the risk profile of its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities.
‘I am delighted to announce this acquisition and the expanded capabilities we will have in the mortgage market,’ says Michael R. Hough, CEO and chairman of Hatteras, in a release. ‘Michael Lau [CEO of Pingora] and his team have built an industry leading operating platform for investing in MSRs, and we are fortunate to add their portfolio management and master servicing oversight capabilities at Hatteras. We expect to leverage Pingora's platform and begin investing in MSRs in July through their established flow MSR acquisition business.’
‘Pingora's focus on developing strategic partnerships with mortgage originators and purchasing flow-based primary market MSRs directly from them is a natural fit with Hatteras and our current agency securities and jumbo ARM flow business,’ Hough adds. ‘We expect Pingora's partnerships will help grow our existing direct mortgage purchase program to a more meaningful scale.’
As part of the agreement, Hatteras has agreed to finance Pingora's purchase of MSRs under its current flow agreements while the transaction is pending.
