Activist investor Blue Lion, which has been waging a campaign for changes at HomeStreet Bank, is pressing the Seattle-based company to consider selling its Fannie Mae multifamily mortgage operations.
Dwight Capital, a New York-based privately owned lender with a national footprint, issued a statement on May 22 in which it said it had communicated its interest to HomeStreet in acquiring the latter's multifamily mortgage business.
The Dallas-based investment firm owns more than 6% of HomeStreet's stock and last year Blue Lion was thwarted in its attempt to
"Blue Lion expects the board to fully engage with Dwight Capital," the firm said in a statement issued Thursday.
HomeStreet has previously announced it would
"HomeStreet has been a Fannie Mae DUS lender and servicer since the initiation of the program by Fannie Mae over 30 years ago, and this business has and continues to be a profitable and important part of our commercial real estate holding business," Mark Mason, HomeStreet's chairman and CEO, said during the company's first-quarter earnings call.
Mason said HomeStreet's board would review Dwight Capital's offer and "respond as appropriate." HomeStreet's multifamily production volume in the first quarter was almost 60% higher year-over-year, but down by a little over 6% from the previous quarter at $142 million. The first quarter tends to be seasonally weak. Multifamily production volume was generally stable to higher at the company last year.
