GM Finally Sells Big Stakes In Real Estate Lending Units.

Washington -- Cash-starved General Motors has finally unloaded controlling stakes in its residential and commercial mortgage banking empires, selling the storied franchises to two different investor groups.

In late March, a group that includes Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts and MBS inventor Lewis Ranieri, finally closed on its purchase of GMAC Commercial Holding, paying almost $9 billion for 78% of the company.

KKR, Mr. Ranieri's Five Mile Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs paid $1.5 billion in cash, while agreeing to repay $7.3 billion in intercompany loans to GMAC.

A few weeks later, Cerberus Capital Management and two partners inked a deal to buy 51% of General Motors Acceptance Corp., which controls the nation's fifth-largest residential mortgage banker.

CCM and its partners paid $14 billion for all of GMAC, which includes such industry brand names as GMAC Residential, GMAC-RFC, Homecomings and Ditech.

A spokesman for Cerberus told Mortgage Servicing News the investment fund's ownership of GMAC is for "the long term" and that there will be no breakup of the company or management changes. "We plan to grow the business," he said. Cerberus anticipates the sale will close by year-end.

CCM's partners in the transaction include financial services giant Citigroup and Japan's Aozora Bank. Oddly enough, the sale places GMAC's residential empire in the position of being owned by competitors. (Its residential business is housed under the holding company, Residential Capital Corp.)