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Bayview Asset Management Announces Strategic Investment from Blackstone

CORAL GABLES, Fla., July 28 PRNewswire — Bayview Asset Management, LLC (Bayview), a subsidiary of Bayview Financial, L.P., announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell a minority interest in the company to Blackstone Capital Partners, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group (Blackstone). The investment from Blackstone will help Bayview (www.bayviewfinancial.com) continue to grow its business in the secondary mortgage acquisition and mortgage securities markets.

Bayview currently manages a $2 billion fund that focuses on the acquisition of whole mortgage loans and mortgage backed securities. Among Bayview's clients are some of the largest institutional investors in the world including leading corporate and public pension funds. It is currently the fourth largest fund of its kind with specific focus in this sector. Bayview has been active in the secondary mortgage market since 1995 and has closed loan purchase transactions with over 2,000 counterparties.

Bayview also operates a highly rated mortgage servicer, Bayview Loan Servicing, which currently services exclusively Bayview collateral. Bayview Loan Servicing takes a high-touch approach toward servicing with fewer serviced loans per employee than any other mortgage special servicer. Bayview's unique position as a secondary purchaser and servicer of the mortgage loans provides much greater flexibility to work with borrowers to keep them in their homes and avoid foreclosure. Bayview believes that its approach leads to a higher rate of loan workouts and modifications for delinquent borrowers than any of its peers. Working with borrowers in this fashion creates the most long-term value for the lender. Bayview's servicing platform gives the company a unique advantage over other asset managers seeking to deploy capital in this space.

David Ertel, Chief Executive Officer of Bayview, said, "With this investment from Blackstone, I am confident that Bayview is well positioned to take advantage of the significant dislocation in the secondary mortgage market. Our 15-year history of transacting in this market, captive servicing capability, and substantial capital base should make us a unique solution provider for financial institutions and other counterparties with residential and commercial mortgage exposure.

"We built Bayview Loan Servicing 10 years ago because we believed that no servicer at that time approached borrowers with our philosophy of pursuing solutions to their problems and ensuring staffing levels that allow interaction with borrowers on a timely and individual basis. We believe, that particularly in this market, our approach to servicing will be even more value-added and appropriate."

Chinh Chu, a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, said, "We are very excited to partner with David Ertel and Bayview, a clear leader in the secondary mortgage market. We believe that there will be tremendous opportunities for Bayview to purchase mortgage loans and securities as financial institutions of all kinds seek to raise capital and deleverage their balance sheets. We also believe strongly in Bayview's high touch approach to mortgage servicing which favors working with the borrower to find a solution for their particular situation."

The transaction is subject to approval from state mortgage regulatory bodies and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The transaction involves no debt financing. J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. and Milestone Advisors, LLC are acting as financial advisors to Bayview. Deutsche Bank is serving as financial advisor to Blackstone. Bayview's legal advisors are Clifford Chance LLP; Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP; and Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A. Blackstone's legal counsel is Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

About The Blackstone Group

The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) is one of the world's leading investment and advisory firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, the companies we advise and the broader global economy. We do this through the commitment of our extraordinary people and flexible capital. Our alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, funds of funds, debt funds, collateralized loan obligation vehicles (CLOs) and closed-end mutual funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement service. More information is available at www.blackstone.com .

About Bayview Financial(R)

Miami-based Bayview Financial(R), a multi-billion dollar full-service mortgage finance company, fulfills the needs of clients in underserved market niches by leveraging a network of thousands of financial institutions to provide clients with a value-added resource for every phase of the real estate loan cycle. Bayview Asset Management provides a range of products and services, including residential and commercial special servicing and mortgage related asset management. More information is available at www.bayviewfinancial.com .

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Bayview Asset Management, LLC

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