Real Estate Investment Firm Buys Partial Ownership in FDIC Loans

A Kansas real estate investment and management firm has acquired a 25% stake in a loan portfolio totaling about $101 million from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Mariner Real Estate Management LLC paid roughly $13.6 million for its stake in the limited liability company formed by the FDIC to hold bad loans from the failed Bank of Whitman in Colfax, Wash., the Puget Sound Business Journal in Washington reported. Bank of Whitman failed in August and Columbia State Bank in Tacoma, Wash., bought its $516 million in deposits and about $314 million in assets.

After a certain return on the equity, Mariner's ownership will increase to half of the portfolio while the FDIC's stake will decrease to 50%.

Mariner, based in Leawood, Kan., said in a news release that the portfolio includes the unpaid balance of 62 performing and nonperforming commercial real estate loans in Washington, Idaho and Utah. Mariner will be responsible for the management of the loans and will use servicer Cohen Financial for the day-to-day servicing of the loans.

In addition to this transaction, Mariner has closed three deals in the second half of 2011 totaling $75 million in equity. Since 2009, Mariner has acquired more than 1,000 loans with an unpaid principal balance of $1.1 billion.