Countrywide Financial has formed a partnership with Merrill Lynch as part of its plans to expand in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. The company also is opening three new offices, said Stew Ward, executive v.p.
Countrywide and Merrill completed four successful fusion deals in 2005 and will create a new brand, MLCFC. The companies will likely co-lead and jointly underwrite at least five to six fixed-rate transactions in 2006, each within the range of $1 billion to $3 billion, Ward said. The program could reach $6 billion to $8 billion if interest rates stay where they are.
The first deal, scheduled for February, will involve collateral from the two banks, but other contributors may join the program as the brand grows. “We are enthusiastic that we have moved to this spot where we can build a distribution platform that can compete for airtime with other platforms,” Ward said.
Countrywide’s started its CMBS origination platform in late 2004, and since then has seen rapid growth. The company has originated more than $500 million per month since and has come to market seven times in the past year, Ward said. In its short history, Countrywide has forged new borrower relationships across the country. To address borrower concerns about CMBS, the group has assigned a servicing liaison representative who has clout with servicers to deal with issues that crop up.
It opened offices in Ft. Lauderdale and Dallas at the end of 2005 and has plans for another new office in Atlanta, which should push its staff in excess of 100. The group’s recent pipeline included a $97.5 million loan for 1201 North Market Street to refinance debt on the Chase Manhattan Centre in downtown Wilmington. The loan was securitized in MLMT 2005-CKI1.