Walter Investment Management Corp. Announces Corporate Credit Ratings and Closing of Residential Mortgage Securitization

TAMPA, Fla., May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE Amex: WAC) ("Walter Investment" or the "Company") today announced that Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has assigned the Company a first-time Corporate Family Rating of B1 with a stable outlook.  This follows the announcement by Standard & Poor's Rating Services ("S&P") that it had assigned the company a B+ long-term counterparty credit rating with a stable outlook.  The ratings were assigned in conjunction with Walter Investment's proposed issuance of $500 million first-lien and $265 million second-lien secured term loans associated with the Company's planned acquisition of GTCS Holdings LLC ("Green Tree").  The $500 million first-lien secured term loan received a B+ rating from S&P and a B1 Senior Secured rating from Moody's.  The $265 million second-lien secured term loan received a B rating from S&P and a B3 Senior Secured rating from Moody's.

"The assignment of these corporate ratings by S&P and Moody's reflect Walter Investment's tremendous opportunity in the high-margin, recurring fee-based mortgage services market, which will continue to drive significant growth for the Company subsequent to its acquisition of Green Tree," said Mark O'Brien, Walter Investment's Chairman and CEO.  "We are quite pleased with both the corporate and debt ratings we received from these institutions."

Additionally, Walter Investment announced it had closed the private placement of approximately $81 million of its Class B secured notes ("Class B Notes") issued on November 22, 2010 by Mid-State Capital Trust 2010-1, a Delaware statutory trust and subsidiary of Mid-State Capital, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.  The Class B Notes are backed by U.S. residential mortgage loans, building and installment sales contracts, promissory notes, related mortgages and other security agreements.  The notes were rated "BBB" by Standard & Poor's.  Walter Investment expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $84 million from the sale of the Class B Notes, which have an interest rate of 7% per annum, and a effective yield 5.95% and are expected to mature in December, 2045.  The proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the Company's previously announced acquisition of Green Tree.

Mark O'Brien, Chairman and CEO of the Company said, "The sale of the Class B Notes is an important step, as we prepare for the closing of our acquisition of Green Tree.  The excellent execution we received on this transaction is a clear indication of the demand in the market for the high quality debt instruments offered by Walter Investment."

"The assignment of the credit ratings and sale of the Class B Notes mark significant progress toward our expected early third quarter closing," continued Mr. O'Brien. "We are also making excellent progress on the other required items for closing and at this time do not anticipate encountering any issues which would significantly impact the timing of the transaction's close."

About Walter Investment Management Corp.

Walter Investment Management Corp. is an asset manager, mortgage servicer and mortgage portfolio owner specializing in non-conforming, less-than-prime, and other credit-challenged mortgage assets. Based in Tampa, Fla., the Company currently has $1.8 billion of assets under management and annual revenues of approximately $180 million.  The Company is structured as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") and employs approximately 340 people.  For more information about Walter Investment Management Corp., please visit the Company's website at www.walterinvestment.com.

About Green Tree

Green Tree is one of the country's leading home loan servicers and a full-service solutions provider which partners with credit-risk owners to help them maximize the performance of their loan portfolios.  Based in St. Paul, Minn., the company services a diverse $37 billion loan portfolio consisting of over 745,000 loans and employs approximately 1,900 people.  For more information, please visit the Green Tree website at www.greentreecreditsolutions.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this release and in any of Walter Investment Management Corp.'s public documents referred to herein, contain or incorporate by reference "forward-looking" statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Walter Investment Management Corp. is including this cautionary statement to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements. Words such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "forecast," "objective," "plan," "goal" and similar expressions, and the opposites of such words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs, intentions and expectations; however, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements, to differ materially from those reflected in the statements made or incorporated in this release. Thus, these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be relied upon as predictions of future events.  The risks and uncertainties referred to above include, but are not limited to, the satisfactory completion of all conditions precedent to the closing of the proposed transaction in accordance with the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement, including the receipt of anti-trust and other regulatory and customer approvals;  the negotiation, execution and delivery of definitive financing agreements and the satisfaction of all conditions precedent that will be contained therein; the completion of asset sales contemplated by the purchase agreement; the obligation to pay a termination fee under the purchase agreement in certain circumstances if the closing does not occur; anticipated growth of the specialty servicing sector; future economic and business conditions; the effects of competition from a variety of local, regional, national and other mortgage servicers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 filed with the SEC on March 8, 2011 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 filed with the SEC on May 6, 2011. 

All forward-looking statements set forth herein are qualified by this cautionary statement and are made only as of May 26, 2011. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained herein, including without limitation, any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or circumstances, or otherwise, unless otherwise required by law.

SOURCE Walter Investment Management Corp.