Pretium Capitalizes on Mortgage Servicing With Selene Acquisition

Pretium Partners, LLC has announced it has agreed to acquire Selene Holdings LLC from Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Ranieri Partners, LLC. Founded in 2012, Pretium Partners is an alternative asset management firm with a focus on real estate, mortgage finance, and corporate credit. The firm seeks to capitalize on investment and lending opportunities arising from the structural changes within the economy, the U.S. housing sector, and the mortgage finance market.

“Selene is a best-in-class servicer that adds significant capabilities and expertise to Pretium’s residential credit ecosystem,” said Donald Mullen, Founder, and CEO of Pretium. “We look forward to further investing in Selene’s technology and platform and working closely with management to best serve Pretium’s investors and Selene’s clients.”

Selene is the parent company of Selene Finance LP, a major residential mortgage servicing company and one of only two servicers in the U.S. to be a Ginnie Mae single-family master sub-servicer. Based out of Houston, Selene was founded in 2007 and provides service across all 50 states as a special servicer of nonperforming, re-performing, REO, and performing loans. Selene Holdings also includes SelecTitle, a title services company, and New Diligence Advisors, a national third-party diligence and advisory services firm.

“Selene has always been focused on providing flexible and creative servicing solutions to our clients,” said Joe Pensabene, President and CEO of Selene. “We’re excited to join with a partner who shares that approach and commitment to the industry, and we look forward to continuing to expand our solutions for the residential credit markets.”

While the financial details of the transaction haven’t been disclosed, it is still subject to customary closing conditions and approval by regulators, is expected to close by mid-2019. Throughout the discussions, Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal counsel to Pretium. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Selene and Buckley Sandler LLP acted as their counsel.

“Pretium is a leader in residential credit,” said Brian Laibow, Managing Director of Oaktree. “They have an institutional culture and a demonstrated history of growing customer-focused businesses. As we have built Selene with our clients, it was very important for Oaktree to partner with someone who shares that vision. We’re pleased to have found that in Pretium.”