JV Launches Company to Focus on Distressed Loans

NEW YORK CITY-Locally based BlackRock Inc. and Boston-based Highfields Capital Management have sponsored a new company that will acquire and restructure distressed residential mortgage loans in response to the ongoing dislocation in the US mortgage market. The new company, Calabasas, CA-based Private National Mortgage Acceptance Co. LLC or PennyMac, has been formed by BlackRock, Highfields, and a management team of mortgage industry veterans led by Stanford L. Kurland, PennyMac’s chairman and CEO.

PennyMac will raise capital from private investors, acquire loans from financial institutions seeking to reduce their mortgage exposures, and seek to create value for both borrowers and investors through distinctive loan servicing. Kurland was president and COO of Countrywide Financial Corp. until his departure in October 2006. The PennyMac management team also includes David Spector, CIO, who is former co-head of global residential mortgages for Morgan Stanley.

“We are pleased to sponsor PennyMac, a company that seeks to bring patient capital to the unprecedented distress in residential mortgages,” says Laurence Fink, BlackRock chairman and CEO. “Stan Kurland and his team have enormous talent and experience in the mortgage business, making them well equipped to develop effective solutions for sellers of mortgage assets and homeowners alike.”