Deutsche Acquires Berkshire Assets

Deutsche Bank, whose U.S. headquarters are in New York, has agreed to acquire the mortgage origination and servicing assets of commercial lender Berkshire Mortgage Finance Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of The Berkshire Group, Boston.Berkshire Mortgage specializes in providing funding for multi-family properties using government-sponsored enterprise and government-insured products. It did $3.5 million in loan volume in 2003 and has a servicing portfolio of over $18 billion. Upon closing Berkshire Mortgage will become part of Deutsche Bank's global Real Estate Debt Markets group. Douglas Krupp, chairman of The Berkshire Group, said "our divestiture of Berkshire Mortgage is consistent with our long-term strategy of creating new businesses, growing those businesses to be market leaders and creating significant value for our equity holders." Berkshire Mortgage was formed in 1987. Its headquarters are, and will remain in, Boston. It also has platform offices in Bethesda, Md., and Irvine, Calif. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.