Centerline Holding Deal One of Many by Opportunistic Investors

U.S. real estate investor Andrew Farkas recently bought Centerline Holding, a provider of financial and asset management services in real estate, by investing $100 million in equity in the company and assuming $180 million of its debt. Island Capital Group, founded by Farkas, bought the Centerline unit that specializes in restructuring ailing mortgages that were packaged into bonds. The unit is the designated “special servicer” for about $110 billion of loans bundled into commercial mortgage backed securities. The deal is one of several attempts to take advantage of the troubled commercial real estate market by opportunistic investors, including Warren E. Buffett.