Brea-based ResMae Mortgage Corp. is the latest local subprime lender rumored to be up for sale.
Investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston is in talks to buy ResMae, according to investment banking sources. The news first was reported Thursday by mortgage trade publication MortgageWire.
A deal for ResMae would continue a trend of actual and expected consolidation in the subprime lending sector, where lenders make loans to customers with spotty credit histories. The industry is deeply rooted in Orange County.
In November, H & R; Block Inc. said it is considering a sale of its Irvine-based Option One Mortgage Corp., which makes subprime home loans.
In October, Irvine’s ECC Capital Corp. said it was selling its subprime loan business to Bear Stearns Cos., for $26 million. That deal is expected to close early this year.
Earlier this month, it was reported that a possible sale of Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp.’s Ameriquest could be in the works as well. A unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. is shopping Ameriquest to hedge fund investors, according to trade reports.
Fort Worth, Texas-based AmeriCredit Corp. recently wrapped up its buy of ACC’s Long Beach Acceptance Corp. for $282.5 million. Long Beach Acceptance makes auto loans to buyers with credit problems.
A sale of ResMae, which began operations in 2003, wouldn’t be out of character for the subprime wholesaler’s founders.
The company was started by Jack Mayesh, Ed Resendez and Bill Komperda, the former executive team for Long Beach Financial Corp., a former Ameriquest unit that went public in 1997 and was bought in 1999 by Washington Mutual Inc.
ResMae has funded nearly $18 billion in loans to date. The company employed about 450 local workers in 2006, and more than 1,000 people overall.
Last year it moved into a new headquarters, a 135,000-square-foot building at 6 Pointe Drive, part of the Olen Pointe Brea office development built by Newport Beach-based Olen Properties Corp.
