Barclays Sells U.S. Mortgage Unit HomEq to Ocwen for $1.3B

LONDON — Barclays Bank PLC said Friday it sold its U.S. mortgage-servicing unit to Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC in a cash deal worth around $1.3 billion.

As part of the sale of HomEq, North Highlands, Calif., to Ocwen, a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corporation in West Palm Beach, Fla., Barclays will provide $1 billion in secured financing and may help Ocwen to raise funding from third parties.

HomEq is the U.S. mortgage servicing business of Barclays Capital and services mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of approximately $28 billion March 31.

Tom Hamilton, head of securitized products trading with Barclays Capital, said the company will continue to "serve our issuer and investor clients from our position as a leading underwriter and market maker of securitized products."

The deal, which is forecast to be completee in the third quarter following regulatory approval, is expected to boost the U.K. bank's core tier-one capital ratio by a small amount but won't have a material impact on Barclays' earnings per share.

A spokesman for Barclays also said it secured an agreement with Ocwen to provide mortgage servicing to the securities firm's clients.

Barclays said in a regulatory statement that proceeds of the sale are subject to adjustment, based on the unpaid principal balance and the value at completion of other assets being sold, such as attached rights and a servicing platform.

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