CHICAGO—By the end of 2013, Cohen Financial will merge into the Pillar Financial, LLC platform, and officials of the Chicago-based firm said it will help further their plans for growth and expansion. They don't plan any changes in staffing or key operations. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The addition of Pillar Financial's lending products offer us a fuller array of products, services and resources in support of our focus on our client-centric approach of representing users and providers of capital,” said Jack Cohen, chief executive officer of Cohen Financial.

The existing Cohen management team will run the loan servicing and brokerage units, which will retain the Cohen Financial name. Cohen's owners, including Mariner Real Estate Management and Cohen Financial senior management, will hold a significant ownership interest in the combined business.

Cohen Financial is an independent, third-party service provider that serves clients throughout the US and has offices in 10 major markets. As a lender, Pillar Financial, which was founded in June 2010, offers multifamily and commercial loan products throughout the nation, and can finance solutions for market-rate and affordable-housing multifamily mortgages, student housing, senior housing, manufactured housing and credit facilities.

“Cohen Financial has been diligent in building a scalable, highly-rated servicing platform that is poised for continued growth,” said Tim Mazzetti, executive vice president and head of Cohen Financial's Loan Administration Business. “Over time, we will support all of Pillar Financial's lending products.”

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Brian J. Rogal

Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.