ORIX Corporation USA is continuing to make waves in the senior care lending space. Two years after the firm acquired Lancaster Pollard, they have now agreed to acquire Hunt Real Estate Capital, a subsidiary of Hunt Companies, Inc. In addition to that deal, upon closing, Hunt Real Estate Capital’s President and Chief Investment Officer, James P. Flynn, will become the CEO of the combined entity.
For the Hunt loan origination team, including Kathryn Burton Gray as Senior Managing Director, James Scribner, Jason Smeck and Brady Johnson, they should be reunited with their former RED Capital Group colleagues, after leaving the group in early 2018. The Lancaster Pollard, RED Capital Group and Hunt Real Estate Capital teams will operate under the ORIX Real Estate Capital umbrella, but will still originate business under their existing brands. The deal creates a commercial real estate finance platform with annual loan production in excess of $9 billion and a servicing portfolio of more than $40 billion. That is a lot of firepower for a firm already with the financial backing of Japanese financial services giant ORIX Corporation that has assets exceeding $100 billion and assets under management reaching $400 billion.
The acquisition is expected to close in 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Advisors for ORIX USA on the transaction included Beekman Advisors, Inc. as financial advisor and Davis Polk & Wardell, LLP, as legal advisor. For Hunt Real Estate Capital, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, served as legal advisor.
