Fund American Enterprise Holdings Inc. of Norwich, Vt., plans to distribute 75% of the shares of its White River Corp. unit to shareholders.
The move would leave SourceOne Mortgage Services Corp. as Fund American's principal operating unit. The holding company said it had newly capitalized the White River unit with equity of $200 million.
SourceOne is among the top 10 companies nationally in mortgage servicing and in the top 20 in originations.
Fitch Investor Services, responding on Wednesday to the Fund American plan, said it was affirming its F-1 credit rating on SourceOne's commercial paper.
Fitch said the SourceOne servicing portfolio stood at about $36.4 billion at mid-year. "White River Corp.'s assets are comprised mainly of common stocks and long-term investment securities," it said.
Fund American plans to focus on its mortgage banking business by retaining Source One as its primary operating subsidiary. The company will also maintain a 25% ownership in White River and various common stocks held primarily in its wholly owned subsidiary FFOG Inc.
