Pillar Financial, LLC Announces Acquisition of St. James Capital, L.L.C.

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pillar Financial, LLC ("Pillar"), an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, today announced the acquisition of St. James Capital, L.L.C. ("St. James"). Based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, St. James is led by Mark Wiedelman and Nancy Ludwick, who founded the company in 1999. Both Mark and Nancy will hold an ongoing interest in Pillar Financial. 

St. James is a MAP-approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lender and an approved Ginnie Mae multifamily issuer specializing in construction and permanent multi-family debt financing. St. James focuses on long-term permanent, new construction, and substantial rehab financing for affordable and market rate properties and is an approved Lender under the Section 223(f) Low Income Housing Tax Credit Pilot program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD").  All loan servicing is retained by St. James. For HUD's fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, St. James ranked eighth nationally in terms of the number of HUD-insured multifamily loan closings. 

"Adding St. James to our portfolio is a significant step in Pillar's growth trajectory. With  St. James, we will now be able to add FHA products to our strong existing suite of capital solutions," said Robert Brennan, Senior Managing Director and Head of Guggenheim's Commercial Real Estate Finance Group.  "I am very excited about the opportunities for adding new lending programs to our multifamily platform that will come from the incorporation of St. James into Pillar and for the multiplier effects it will have on the broader Guggenheim commercial real estate platform."

Pillar CEO Anand Gajjar remarked, "We are very excited to be welcoming the St. James team to the Pillar platform. St. James and Pillar share many important cultural values including a conservative approach to business and a relentless focus on excellence, making the two organizations a great fit for each other. Mark, Nancy and the rest of the St. James team are true experts in their field and have built a top notch organization to service the market. Their expertise, insights and focus will no doubt add value to our business and customers immediately."

Mark Wiedelman, Managing Director at St. James, said, "St. James' long time focus on the FHA Multifamily loan products and strength in affordable housing financing, makes this combination a tremendous opportunity for all of our clients.  Pillar's Fannie Mae capabilities combined with Guggenheim's Commercial Real Estate Finance products as well as St. James' FHA experience, will enable us to offer the finest and most innovative line of multifamily financial products available in the market. I am thrilled to be a part of this group and look forward to the future."

Mark Wiedelman, Managing Director, has over 30 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry and will remain President of St. James. His focus is the development of new business opportunities within the affordable financing area utilizing all the Guggenheim loan programs.

Nancy Ludwick, Managing Director, remains Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriter of St. James.  She is a licensed real estate broker with over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Her experience encompasses all aspects of commercial mortgage financing from origination and underwriting to closing and loan servicing.

Beekman Advisors served as advisor to St. James in this transaction.

About Pillar Multifamily LLC
Besides St. James, Pillar's other principal asset is Pillar Multifamily, LLC, (Pillar MF) a Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS^®) lender. Started in 2010, Pillar MF offers a full array of financing solutions to owners of multifamily properties including financing solutions for market-rate and affordable-housing multifamily mortgages, student housing, senior housing, manufactured housing and credit facilities.

About St. James Capital, L.L.C.
St. James Capital, L.L.C., located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, specializes in multifamily financing for non-profit and for profit developers/owners. Debt financing includes long-term permanent, new construction, substantial rehab, acquisition and refinancing of both affordable and market rate properties.

About Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a privately held global financial services firm with more than $160 billion in assets under management. The firm provides asset management, investment banking and capital markets services, insurance, institutional finance and investment advisory solutions to institutions, governments and agencies, corporations, investment advisors, family offices and individuals. Guggenheim Partners is headquartered in New York and Chicago and serves clients around the world from more than 25 offices in eight countries. For more information about Guggenheim Partners, visit www.guggenheimpartners.com.

Media Contacts:

Torie von Alt
Director of Public Relations
Guggenheim Partners
(212) 378-6216

Brunswick Group
(212) 333-3810

SOURCE Guggenheim Partners, LLC