Santa Monica-based Fremont General Corp. said Monday that it is close to selling its shuttered Brea-based subprime mortgage division.
The same unnamed buyer also has agreed to buy $2.9 billion of Fremont’s subprime loans.
The sale of the loans, which make up the majority of the company’s unfunded subprime loans, will result in a pretax loss of about $100 million, Fremont said.
The buyer would obtain Fremont’s subprime home loan servicing business and part of its subprime loan origination operation. Also included in the deal are Fremont’s mortgage servicing rights, servicing advances, residual interests and mortgage-backed securities.
The deal has not yet been finalized, the company said.
Fremont announced it was looking to sell the subprime business early last month, and later was ordered by federal regulators to halt subprime lending altogether. The company also said last month that it planned to let go of a number of its 2,400 workers at its Brea offices.
