GM Decides to Keep GMACCM

After almost a year of peddling its commercial mortgage banking unit, General Motors has decided that it loves the business after all.Late Tuesday the automaker said it has decided to keep GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Elkins Park, Pa., noting that the unit "has continued to post record operating results, with origination volume and earnings during the first nine months of 2003 already at or above the levels" achieved last year. One source told MortgageWire that analyzing GMACCM is not an easy task, given all the "B-piece" securities it owns. Sources said that a few months back, GM had a deal in principle to sell GMACCM to Deutsche Bank for about $1 billion, pending additional due diligence. "But given GMAC's size, three months was just not enough time," the source said, adding that there were additional "complications" as well. One factor in GM's initial decision to sell GMACCM was its pension fund, which has been underfunded. But according to Goldman Sachs, the pension fund is returning to health after a 20% gain in 2003. GMACCM is the largest commercial real estate lender and servicer in the United States. GMACCM can be found online at http://www.gmaccm.com.