Ally to Sell Mortgage Unit to Walter Investment Management

Ally Bank is selling a mortgage business to Walter Investment Management.

The $94.8 billion-asset unit of Ally Financial said Monday it would sell the unit, which includes the bank's correspondent and wholesale broker origination channels and operations, for an undisclosed price. The deal, which includes roughly 300 employees, is expected to close on Feb. 28.

Ally Financial had told investors earlier this month that it was exploring a possible sale of the unit as part of a retreat from the home lending business.

"We are pleased to be transferring business lending to a well-respected, strategic buyer like Walter, who values the high quality of our people, platform and relationships and is committed to building its origination capabilities," Barbara Yastine, Ally Bank's chief executive, said in a press release. She said the sale would allow Ally "to direct more resources toward our priorities of growing our leading direct banking franchise, as well as supporting Ally's auto finance operation."

Following the sale, Ally Bank would continue to originate a modest level of jumbo and conventional conforming residential mortgages for its own portfolio, the company said.

In October, Walter Investment Management teamed with Ocwen to buy the origination and servicing assets belonging to Ally Financial's Residential Capital unit in a deal that closed on Friday.

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