MuniMae to Buy LIHTC Syndicator

Municipal Mortgage & Equity, Baltimore, has announced an agreement to acquire the Housing and Community Investing unit of Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, New York, for $102 million in cash.HCI, a syndicator of low-income housing tax credit investments, will be combined with MuniMae Midland, a subsidiary of MuniMae that finances affordable housing, to form MMA Financial. The new company will manage $7.4 billion of real estate investments representing approximately 220,000 apartment units, making it the fourth-largest owner of apartments in the United States, MuniMae said. MMA Financial will be a wholly owned subsidiary of MuniMae and will be based in Baltimore. The tax credit syndication operation will be headed by Jenny Netzer, now managing director of HCI, and the affordable debt business will be led by Keith Gloecki, who now heads MuniMae Midland's investment operations. Lend Lease REI is a subsidiary of Lend Lease Corp., Sydney, Australia. The companies can be found online at http://www.munimaemidland.com, http://www.mma-financial.com, and http://www.lendlease.com.au.