NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Sabal Financial Group LP participated in the purchase of a $75 million real estate and land loan portfolio from First Bank of North Carolina. The portfolio is a mix of 290 performing and non-performing residential development and land-based assets throughout the Southeastern United States.
“This portfolio is indicative of the type of assets that we strive to help banks offload and bring under management for our clients,” said R. Patterson Jackson, CEO of Sabal Financial Group, in a statement. “Our team of real estate experts is able to apply a patient approach to workout each asset’s individual real estate business plan, while giving the bank the opportunity to get back to the business of banking.”
Many of the properties in the portfolio were impacted by the area’s real estate downturn.
“This was an effective trade for our institution with Sabal helping to bring transparency, certainty of close and a fair price for the assets,” said Richard Moore, CEO of First Bank. “In handing these assets over to real estate workout experts, we have improved our balance sheet and enabled our staff to focus on our core banking business.”
The acquisition by Newport Beach, Calif.-based Sabal Financial Group follows a busy fourth quarter in 2012, when the company added $1 billion in real estate assets to its management portfolio. With the latest purchase, the company now has $6 billion in assets.