Morgan Stanley is once again weighing the sale of its residential servicing operation, Saxon Mortgage, according to industry officials familiar with the matter.
One buyer of MSRs told National Mortgage News that an ‘offering book’ on Saxon was first circulated late last year. (Earlier this week The New York Post reported that the Wall Street firm is “considering offloading” Saxon.)
A spokeswoman for Morgan declined to comment. Saxon, which Morgan bought back in 2006, just before the subprime bubble burst, is based in Irving, Texas.
Back in February Saxon lost its CEO Tony Meola to Bank of America, a move that signaled that all was not well with Saxon.
One servicing investor told NMN that, “Originally, Morgan was looking for a high multiple, but now they’re being more realistic.”
At the yearend Saxon serviced $26.8 billion of home mortgages, ranking 26th nationwide, according to the Quarterly Data Report. Roughly $16.6 billion of its receivables are subprime or nonconforming in nature.
