Centerline Holding Company and Hunt Announce Definitive Merger Agreement
Centerline Holding Company and Hunt Capital Partners announced the entry into a definitive agreement and plan of merger between Centerline and an affiliate of Hunt under which an affiliate of Hunt will acquire through a merger all of the outstanding Common Shares of the Company that Hunt or its affiliates do not already own for cash consideration of $39.89 per share.
New York—Centerline Holding Company and Hunt Capital Partners LLC, the affordable housing division and an affiliate of Hunt Companies Inc., today announced the entry into a definitive agreement and plan of merger between Centerline and an affiliate of Hunt under which an affiliate of Hunt will acquire through a merger all of the outstanding Common Shares of the Company that Hunt or its affiliates do not already own for cash consideration of $39.89 per share. In April 2013, an affiliate of Hunt acquired 978,274 of the Common Shares of Centerline, representing approximately 41 percent of the Common Shares outstanding.
Centerline Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, including Centerline Capital Group, provides real estate financing and asset management services focused on affordable and conventional multifamily housing. Centerline is organized around three business units: Mortgage Banking, Affordable Housing Debt and Affordable Housing Investments. Centerline offers a range of both debt financing and equity investment products, as well as asset management services to developers, owners, and investors. An industry leader, Centerline is structured to originate, underwrite, service, manage, refinance or sell through all phases of an asset’s life cycle. A leading sponsor of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funds, Centerline currently manages a portfolio of $9.2 billion of investor equity under management with 114 funds and more than 140,000 multifamily units. Centerline’s multifamily lending platform services on behalf of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) more than $12.2 billion in loans, of which affordable housing makes up $3.1 billion. Centerline’s 221 employees operate in 14 office locations throughout the United States.
Hunt Companies Inc., together with its affiliates, is an owner, developer, syndicator, funds manager, asset manager and financer of real assets with $16 billion of assets under management including 144,200 multifamily units—79,000 of which are affordable—and 6.5 million square feet of commercial and retail space. Hunt is a private company, with more than 1,000 employees across 17 offices and is headquartered in El Paso, Texas.
Centerline’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the transaction and recommended that the Company’s shareholders approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the merger.  The closing of the merger remains subject to shareholder approval and a number of other conditions, such as obtaining regulatory and licensor approvals and third-party consents, including from the Company’s various lenders, as well as other customary closing conditions. The merger is currently expected to close in the third quarter of 2013.
