Former WMC CEO Leads Acquistion of “High-Touch” Special Servicer

Vantium Capital Inc., a new private equity investment outfit headed up by former WMC Mortgage CEO Amy Brandt, said on Tuesday that it had joined the ranks of investors looking to snag a slice of the growing distressed mortgage business. The company snapped up Dallas-based Acqura Loan Services, a third-party special servicing platform established last year by former Option One Mortgage Co. exec David Vida. Brandt is a well-known figure in the mortgage banking industry; at just 31 years of age, Brandt was tapped to run WMC when General Electric (GE) bought what was to become the subprime lending giant back in in 2004. She later left WMC in 2006, and has been running an independent rock label until resurfacing at Acqura and Vantium in the past month. Through the acquisition, Acqura also became the servicing platform for Vantium’s own newly-formed distressed mortgage acquisition fund, Vantium Capital Management, LP. Which puts the Dallas-based servicer in a unique hybrid third-party/captive servicing position few occupy: Acqura already services loans for roughly a dozen institutions investors, according to recent coverage in HW Magazine (and we know you want to subscribe). Brandt will take over as CEO at Acqura, according to a press statement; Vida will stay with the company as president. “Hedge funds and other alternative asset investors have been raising capital to take advantage of opportunities in the whole loan and MBS markets. But they need strong servicing partners with the skills and capacity to deliver customized programs and superior results,” Brandt said. The acquisition also included two sister companies, Strategic Recovery Group and Go Financial Solutions; focusing on asset recovery and specialty lending, respectively, both provide Vantium with end-to-end reach in consumer debt and mortgage banking. “We were looking for a partner who understood our markets and was able to invest in our growth and be an additional source of assets,” said Vida. “Vantium is exactly that kind of partner.” Paul Jackson contributed to this report.