Salene Residential Mortgage Opportunity Fund, which counts MBS pioneer Lewis Ranieri among its managing partners, has been identified as being the "stalking horse" bid on a portfolio of homes owned by the now-defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) of Ocala, Fla.
Salene has made an offer on roughly 2,000 repossessed properties, according to investment banking sources familiar with the matter.
A stalking horse bid is a strategy used by a bankrupt company (in this case TBW) whereby it obtains an initial bid on its assets from an interested buyer of its choosing. A bankruptcy court is overseeing the liquidation of TBW, which failed this summer.
The REO portfolio has been appraised at $330 million. Additional bids will be taken in the coming weeks.
