Regions Bank, which completed its acquisition of home improvement lender EnerBank USA last week in a cash transaction valued at $960 million, announced Monday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sabal Capital Partners LLC, a financial services firm that serves the small-balance commercial real estate market across the country.
Sabal is one of the top originators of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac small-balance commercial real estate loans and has a growing presence in non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities loan origination. Birmingham, Alabama-based Regions declined to reveal the terms of the purchase but said it plans to incorporate Sabal into its growing Real Estate Capital Markets division.
Based in Irvine, California, Sabal Capital Partners is a vertically integrated platform that has originated nearly $6 billion in financing across the U.S. since inception and maintains a current servicing portfolio of nearly $5 billion.
“With the addition of Sabal Capital Partners, Regions will become even better positioned to further build on our client base and deliver an expanded range of agency and non-agency options for real estate lending,” said Joel Stephens, head of Capital Markets for Regions Bank. “Sabal’s industry-leading technology platform and its leadership in the small-balance commercial real estate arena make the company a great match for Regions. “
Regions’ acquisition of Sabal Capital Partners, LLC is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021,