Hilco Real Estate Finance Lending Division is sold to a Private Equity Firm - The Garrison Investment Group

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Oct. 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hilco Real Estate LLC (www.hilcorealestate.com ) announced today that it has sold its private real estate mortgage lending company - Hilco Real Estate Finance LLC - to the Garrison Investment Group. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Neil Aaronson, CEO of Hilco Real Estate LLC, a unit of Hilco Global ( www.hilcoglobal.com ), indicated that the growth of Hilco's private real estate mortgage lending business had exceeded all expectations and financial projections. Aaronson said that "following such a successful first year and a half of lending, originating loans in approximately 20 states and rapid expansion of the operations, we decided that the time was right to carefully transition the company to a new capital partner that wanted to aggressively scale the business." Aaronson continued, "Mark Filler, the founder and CEO of Hilco Real Estate Finance (www.hilcorealestatefinance.com) has done a tremendous job building and growing this part of our real estate business practice.  Mark has been an outstanding leader with an aggressive expansion plan; working together we decided that the time was right to sell the company in order to facilitate further growth." Aaronson  further indicated that he and Filler spent months researching and meeting with numerous potential capital partners which culminated in the sale to the Garrison Investment Group.

The Garrison Investment Group is a private equity firm that was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York.  Garrison has approximately $3.5 billion of assets under management.  They have enormous expertise in financial services and real estate.

The management team and Garrison Investment Group will rebrand the company as Jordan Capital Finance (www.jordancapitalfinance.com ) within the next couple of weeks.  Mr. Filler will continue to lead the company as the firm further expands its operation. Filler said "while our name and ownership structure will change, the entire management team and successful business strategy will not."  Filler is a recognized leader in the mortgage lending industry having also founded and run West Coast based Prospect Mortgage Company prior to launching the Hilco Real Estate Finance business in 2012 (Prior to Prospect, he was co-founder of Prism Mortgage Company).

Filler said, "We will continue to offer our current products for single family and small multi-family investors and will add new products for funding at auctions and new construction (ground up only).  The firm will increase its maximum loan size to $5 million."

John Bunting, Managing Director of Garrison Investment Group, says, "Jordan Capital Finance has carved out a market niche that we believe we can take to a new level with new products and additional capital. Our investment in Jordan provides a valuable and complementary addition to our portfolio of lending platforms." Bunting added that "Mark Filler and his team have a successful track record and have demonstrated the expertise to deliver careful underwriting and highly professional business practices. This group has extensive experience in commercial and residential finance, construction lending, and commercial banking."

Neil Aaronson – Hilco Real Estate CEO added that "Garrison is a great fit and a terrific new partner for Mark Filler and his team because of their thoughtful approach and keen sense for opportunity in an industry that offers significant scalability."  

About Jordan Capital Finance – Jordan Capital Finance (JCF) is a direct private money lender serving residential real estate investors who acquire, renovate, sell, and rent properties. JCF primarily provides lines of credit to established "fix and flip" investors in select national markets, supported by "common sense" underwriting and flexible, customized programs. JCF also provides loans to investors that rehabilitate and lease properties, and new construction loans.  Properties are single and small multifamily.  Lines of credit are available up to $5 million. We do not loan on owner occupied properties.

About Garrison Investment Group - Garrison Investment Group is a leading middle market credit and asset based investor. The firm was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York.  Garrison has approximately $3.5 billion of assets under management and a team of 75 employees (43 investment professionals). Their investment strategies focus on deploying capital in opportunities across Corporate Finance (corporate loans and select equity investments), Financial Assets (commercial & industrial loans and consumer loans), Private Equity and Real Estate. Garrison's team of experienced professionals enables them to source and execute transactions across their multiple investing disciplines.