Irvine-based Option One Mortgage Corp. has lost a $1 billion credit line in a move that raises questions about the subprime mortgage lender’s pending sale.
Parent company H & R; Block Inc. said the credit line loss brings Option One’s borrowing capacity to about $8 billion, the minimum needed for a sale of the unit to go through.
The line of credit was from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which opted not to renew, Reuters reported.
H & R; Block plans to sell Option One to New York-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, which stipulated a minimum of $8 billion of credit to close the deal, expected in October.
Separately, Bank of America Corp. agreed to boost its Option One credit line to $2.25 billion from $2 billion until a sale is done.
Terms of the sale to Cerberus aren’t clear. It recently was pegged at $800 million but could end up lower by the time deal closes.
