Altisource Scores $652M Single-Family Portfolio
The REIT picked up properties in six southern states and than doubled the size of its rental-home holdings.
By Dees Stribling
Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands—A massive portfolio of single-family rental houses—some 4,262 units in the South—has traded for $652 million. The buyer, Altisource Residential LP, is an operating partnership controlled by Altisource Residential Corp., a publicly traded REIT headquartered in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Amherst Holdings LLC of Austin, Texas, was the seller.
Altisource Residential acquired a 100 percent equity interest in the portfolio. As part of the transaction, an Amherst-sponsored entity is providing seller financing equal to 75 percent of the purchase price. Amherst will remain the property manager for the portfolio through its subsidiary, Main Street Renewal LLC.
The transaction more than doubles the size of Altisource Residential’s single-family rental portfolio, according to the buyer. It also enhances its presence in new and existing target markets, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Altisource Residential continues to make the transition to a 100 percent single-family rental REIT and “to capitalize on attractive single-family rental economics,” said George Ellison, the company’s CEO, in a statement. “These high-yielding properties are an excellent fit for the [our] brand and expand our geographic reach in strategic markets.” The company’s goal is to have 10,000 rental homes by the end of 2016.
For Amherst’s part, said CEO Sean Dobson, “We are creating turnkey opportunities for investors globally to gain access to large portfolios of professionally managed and financed rental homes.” Amherst received legal counsel from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Mayer Brown LLP. Nomura Securities International Inc. served as the financial advisor.
