Walter Investment Management Corporation (NYSE: WAC) on Friday announced a plan to pursue a corporate restructuring through a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan, but subsidiary Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. won’t be involved.
In a late-night press release, the Fort Washington, Pa.-based firm said it entered into a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with its noteholders to pursue the Chapter 11 option, with a formal solicitation of votes expected next month. The goal, Walter said, is to reduce its outstanding debt by about $700 million and focus on its core businesses — which include reverse mortgage servicing through RMS.
“We are making significant progress transforming our business, and the financial restructuring contemplated by the agreements we have reached with our lenders and noteholders are a key part of our plans,” Walter president and CEO Anthony Renzi said in a statement. “Through these agreements, we expect to quickly restructure our debt while ensuring that businesses will continue as normal.”
RMS and another Walter subsidiary, Ditech Financial, LLC, will not be part of the Chapter 11 process and will continue operations as normal, the company said.
Walter laid out a quick timeline for the plan, with the initial filing slated for November and a completion deadline of January 31, 2018.
A shaky year
The troubled servicer had hinted that a prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy plan was possible amid ongoing financial woes: Earlier this year, Walter had to admit that some of its financial filings were inaccurate and could not be relied upon, and received delisting warnings from the New York Stock Exchange due to its consistently low stock prices.
Walter kicked off 2017 by exiting the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage origination business in January, leaving RMS as a servicing entity only. That was a quick turnaround from 2012, when Walter bought RMS for $120 million and hinted at big plans for its new HECM arm.
“The sector has very attractive long-term growth prospects and is currently undergoing significant structural change, providing us with an opportunity to capitalize on those dynamics,” then-CEO Mark O’Brien said at the time.
The company also bought Security One Lending for up to $31 million the following year; Security One was shuttered as part of the overall reverse mortgage exit in January.
Together, RMS and Security One turned in 1,996 loans in 2016, good for seventh place in the industry according to Reverse Market Insight.
Written by Alex Spanko
