DBRS Confirms Berkadia’s U.S. Servicer Evaluations of Superior

DBRS has today confirmed the Superior evaluations of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC’s (Berkadia or the Company) Primary Mortgage Servicing and Master Mortgage Servicing capabilities in the United States.

Berkadia is a joint venture between Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) and Leucadia National Corporation (Leucadia). With the acquisition of the Company by Berkshire and Leucadia, the overall financial strength of the Company continues to be greatly enhanced following the voluntary bankruptcy filing of the predecessor company in October 2009. The Company continues to be profitable and enjoys substantial liquidity for originations, advancing and operations provided by the joint-venture partners.

Berkadia’s commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) master and primary servicing groups have been prime business units of the Company’s since 1994. While Berkadia currently remains one of the largest CMBS servicers by volume, the Company is only selectively bidding on new master servicing contracts. However, in 2012, Berkadia was named Subservicer to approximately $36 billion, 4,400 CMBS loans, and is continuing to look for opportunities to grow its servicing portfolio.

Berkadia continues to be a highly respected CMBS servicer due to its highly experienced staff, reliable controls over asset administration, proven technology, knowledgeable customer service and thorough investor reporting. The functional structure of Berkadia allows the Company to effectively meet the demands of all areas of servicing. The Company is able to serve as a highly skilled and efficient intermediary between borrowers and investors, ultimately improving overall transparency for multiple parties.

As of June 30, 2012, Berkadia’s servicing portfolio consisted of 27,101 loans totaling $209.8 billion, of which approximately 15,700 loans, totaling $129.2 billion, were CMBS. Also at June 30, 2012, the Company was named Master servicer for 136 CMBS transactions and oversaw 43 third-party primary servicers who serviced 1,246 loans totaling $13.9 billion.

The servicer evaluation reflects a comprehensive review of Berkadia’s organizational structure, the management team, asset administration, loss management, technology, staffing and training, procedures and controls, and financial strength.

Notes:
All figures are in US dollars unless otherwise noted

The applicable methodology is Commercial Mortgage Servicer Evaluations, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.