SunTrust Plaza, SunTrust's headquarters in Atlanta.
ATLANTA—SunTrust Bank Inc. said Thursday it would acquire substantially all of the assets of Pillar Financial LLC, including its multifamily lending business. Also included is the commercial real estate investor services business of Cohen Financial Group, which merged with Pillar in 2013, including loan administration and advisory services as well as its mortgage banking platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Chicago-based Pillar is among a handful of agency lenders that hold licenses with all three agencies: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Its commercial real estate lending business includes affordable housing, healthcare properties, seniors housing and manufactured housing.
“This acquisition will enhance our commercial real estate platform by providing our clients with full access to the Agency programs currently licensed to Pillar,” says Mark Chancy, SunTrust Wholesale Banking executive. He adds that SunTrust will offer Pillar's clients “access to a number of expanded products and capabilities including bridge loans, equity for affordable housing developments, and a full suite of capital markets capabilities through SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.”
Pillar CEO Anand Gaijar sees “very little overlap” in the capabilities of SunTrust and his company. Yet he adds that “there is tremendous synergy and compatibility. Our management team is energized to serve our clients with the significant product offerings of SunTrust.”
When the acquisition is finalized, the Pillar team will join the SunTrust Commercial Real Estate line of business, which is part of the Wholesale Banking segment. Gajjar will report to Kathy Farrell, Commercial Real Estate executive.
The transaction is expected to close before year-end, subject to agency approvals. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey served as financial advisor to SunTrust, while Beekman Advisors acted as the strategic advisor for Pillar on the transaction.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
