Specialty finance company Redwood Trust Inc. has completed its acquisition of bridge lender Riverbend Funding LLC, which has a funded portfolio of more than $1.5 billion single-family and multifamily loans nationwide.

The acquisition of Portland, Oregon-based Riverbend and its subsidiaries, announced originally in late April, is expected to fit in well with Redwood’s existing business-purpose lending platform, CoreVest. Redwood executives say Riverbend will be integrated into CoreVest.

CoreVest provides financing to real estate investors across the country and as of late June boasted more than $15 billion in loans closed and some 125,000 units financed, according to the lender.

In particular, Riverbend will expand CoreVest’s reach by adding single-asset bridge origination and distribution channels to CoreVest’s existing product offerings.

“As we described when we announced the acquisition of Riverbend, we also continue to believe, especially amidst this higher rate environment, that our investment portfolio and operating revenues will further benefit from Riverbend’s bridge product and fee-based revenues,” said Christopher Abate, CEO of Redwood.

Sean Robbins, co-founder of Riverbend, said “joining forces with CoreVest will help us provide greater financing options for our partners, drive overall productivity and enhance our efficiency.”

“Over the last 12 months, Riverbend [founded in 2017] has originated over $1.0 billion of loans across 33 states, with additional key markets targeted for future expansion,” states the April announcement detailing the acquisition deal then still in motion. “Riverbend’s executive leadership team plans to remain with the business following the completion of the transaction.”

Riverbend offers financing to veteran real estate investors who acquire residential and multifamily transitional properties with plans to renovate and sell them. It also serves professional developers of multifamily properties. The company employs more than 50 people.

“Riverbend complements Redwood’s existing business-purpose mortgage banking platform, CoreVest, … enhancing CoreVest’s suite of products, geographic and production footprint, and client base,” the original announcement of the acquisition states.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. JMP Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to Mill Valley, California-based Redwood for the transaction.

The post Redwood Trust finalizes acquisition of lender Riverbend  appeared first on HousingWire.

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