JER Partners commercial servicing business is Farkas’ latest acquisition

Andrew Farkas’ C-III Capital Management acquired the commercial real estate special servicing and collateralized debt obligation management business of JER Partners for an undisclosed amount, the company announced today. JER is the named special servicer for $35.5 billion of commercial real estate loans, of which $4 billion is under active management. In May the firm sold the defaulted loan on Kent Swig’s 80 Broad Street to Savanna Investments for about $66 million (note: correction appended).

C-III will take control of all of JER’s assets, and will merge its servicing portfolio employees into its asset management division. The firm has been on a bit of a buying spree in the last 18 months, acquiring both Centerline Capital Group’s commercial loan servicing business in March 2010 and commercial services firm NAI Global in June 2011. As previously reported, Farkas is one of several high-profile firms that is strategically purchasing loan servicers to profit off of underwater boom-year loans.

“This acquisition strengthens C-III’s position as one of the top three special servicers in the country and advances our growth strategy,” Farkas, the firm’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “Special servicing is a key foundation of our strategy to create a fully diversified commercial real estate company.”
— Adam Fusfeld