Euromoney Liquid real estate March 2007
Barclays Capital has bought Equifirst, the US sub-prime mortgage originator, for $225 million. Equifirst originates nearly $10 billion of mortgages every year, and is the 12th largest sub-prime mortgage originator in the US.
Barclays plans to integrate the origination skills of Equifirst with the servicing skills of HomEq, which it bought last year for $469 million.
The British bank expects an annual after-tax return of 20% on its investment after three years.