Walter Investment completes acquisition of Green Tree

Tampa-based Walter Investment Management Corp. (WAC) finalized its acquisition of Green Tree servicing, d.b.a. GTCS Holdings, on Tuesday. The acquisition, which was priced at $1.065 billion, brings GTCS, an independent, fee-based servicer, under the umbrella of Walter Investment. Walter Investment relinquished its REIT status after agreeing to acquire Green Tree since a portion of the acquired firm operates outside the realm of real estate. In doing so, Walter Investment will lose certain tax benefits, but will gain more flexibility to invest in different asset classes. “We are quite pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of Green Tree and look forward to pursuing our shared strategic objectives for growing the business and enhancing long-term shareholder value,” said Mark O’Brien, Walter Investment’s chairman and chief executive officer. “It is apparent that we are at the beginning of a secular transformation in the mortgage services sector, and with the addition of Green Tree’s business services capabilities, we believe that the company is uniquely positioned to execute on opportunities from this transformation and capture a significant share of this growing specialty services sector,” he added. GTCS Holdings is based in St. Paul, Minn., and brings a $37 billion portfolio of 745,000 loans that it services. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.