Oak Street Mortgage, Carmel, Ind., a top-40-ranked subprime lender, is exiting the business, agreeing to sell 21 retail branches to NovaStar Mortgage, Kansas City, Mo.No purchase price was disclosed, but NovaStar said in a statement that it is paying a "slight premium over the book value of the assets" being acquired. NovaStar said the new branches will increase its production by $75 million to $100 million a month. Oak Street said it is exiting the residential business entirely, but will remain a commercial mortgage lender. In the second quarter Oak Street originated $581 million, ranking 36th nationwide, according to the Quarterly Data Report, a MortgageWire affiliate. It also table-funds loans through the wholesale channel. It is unclear what will happen to its wholesale operation. The company could not be reached for comment at deadline time.
