Sabal Announces More Than $1 Billion in Portfolio Acquisitions in 2012's Fourth Quarter

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - Mar 5, 2013) - Sabal Financial Group, L.P., a diversified financial services firm, announced a banner fourth quarter of real estate loan portfolio acquisitions on behalf of its clients with a combined UPB over $1 billion. Sabal successfully closed 2012 with nearly $5.5 billion in assets under management.

"We anticipate demand to remain robust under continued pressure for banks to shed problematic assets," said R. Patterson ("Pat") Jackson, chief executive officer of Sabal Financial Group. "Sabal will continue to pursue acquisition opportunities on behalf of its clients in 2013 while concurrently growing our services in lending and bank advisory."

Fourth-quarter transactions include:

• A $670 million loan portfolio acquired from a regional community bank. The portfolio consists of performing and non-performing loans secured by commercial and land-based assets in the southeast region.
• A $114 million loan portfolio from a regional community bank. The portfolio includes performing loans and is secured by commercial real estate located in the southeast region.
• A $166 million loan portfolio acquired through the FDIC Small Investor Program that includes non-performing and performing loans secured by commercial real estate and land assets based in the southeast region.
• A $72 million loan portfolio acquired from a regional community bank and consisting of performing and non-performing loans secured by commercial assets in the southeast region.
• A $63 million loan portfolio from a regional bank. The portfolio consists of performing and non-performing loans, and is primarily secured by commercial and land-based assets in the northeast region.

In addition to Sabal's continued activity in distressed portfolio acquisition and asset management activity, the company assists bankers, investors and advisors in evaluating and measuring risk in credit portfolios through its Bank Credit Advisory Practice (BCAP). BCAP has completed more than 110 bank credit portfolio assessments since 2010 and has separately evaluated more than 250 loan portfolios for market pricing. The core line of Sabal's BCAP expertise assists community banks in loan sale planning, recapitalization, merger and acquisition (M&A) decisions and modeling to best prepare them for the projected industry-wide influx in M&A activity expected to occur over the next few years.

Last year, Sabal launched both a home builder lending program as well as a commercial real estate (CRE) bridge lending platform to provide attractive alternatives to loans from traditional institutions which may not be available. Sabal's home builder lending program provides non-recourse construction, acquisition and development loans to for-sale homebuilders. The company's CRE bridge lending program offers financing for value-add opportunities and properties in transition. Both finance programs are available to borrowers in California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona

"While we expect our portfolio acquisition business to remain active over the next few years, we will continue to place an emphasis on the growth of our lending programs as well as the diversification and growth of our business platform," said Jackson. 

About Sabal Financial Group
Sabal Financial Group, L.P. is an international diversified financial services firm specializing in real estate, banking and lending with nearly $5.5 billion in assets under management. Since 2009, the firm has established a strong presence in the acquisition, valuation, management and servicing of commercial real estate and acquisition, development and construction (ADC) loans. Sabal Financial Group is a non-traditional lender, providing construction and acquisition and development loans to established middle-market residential builders, as well as commercial real estate bridge loans to reputable real estate investors and owners in California, Washington and Oregon and Arizona.

Sabal's diversified platform is complemented by its Bank Credit Advisory Practice that acts as an advisor and M&A specialist to commercial and investment banks seeking unbiased third-party credit portfolio risk and capital and performance assessments.

A privately held company, Sabal Financial Group is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, with offices in Pasadena, CA; Atlanta; Greenville, SC; and New York City www.sabalfin.com.