OREANDA-NEWS. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT), cit.com, a leading provider of commercial lending and leasing services, today announced that CIT Real Estate Finance provided a $35 million senior secured mortgage loan to a special purpose entity controlled by The Bascom Group (“Bascom”), an owner/operator of multifamily properties, and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”), a global investment manager specializing in alternative investments. The proceeds of the facility were used to finance the acquisition of Stone Creek Apartments, a 368-unit apartment complex located in Sacramento, California. Financing was provided by CIT Bank, N.A., the principal bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Brian Wirtz, Managing Partner, Bascom Northwest Ventures, LLC, said, “Stone Creek Apartments is conveniently close to downtown Sacramento’s Central Business District, which hosts over 100,000 employees and offers more than 11 million square feet of office space. We have worked with CIT on several previous transactions, and, as they have done before, CIT quickly understood the value proposition of this property and developed a comprehensive financing proposal that met our needs.”

Mark Jacobs, a Managing Director at Oaktree, said, “Stone Creek’s central location provides residents access to major transportation corridors including I-5 (10 minutes to downtown Sacramento), I-80 (88 miles to San Francisco), and U.S. 50, which offers access to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. CIT leveraged its experience with financing multifamily real estate transactions to build a tailored financing package that helped make this acquisition possible.”

Matt Galligan, President, CIT Real Estate Finance, said, “Both Bascom and Oaktree have extensive experience as real estate investors. As new owners of Stone Creek, they are making substantial improvements to the grounds and the interior and exterior of the apartments, as well as enhancing the amenities for residents. We are pleased to extend our longstanding relationship with Bascom and look forward to working with Oaktree again.”

The Bascom Group, LLC is a private equity firm specializing in value-added multifamily, commercial, and non-performing loans and real estate related investments and operating companies. Bascom sources value-added and distressed properties including many through foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sales and repositions them by adding extensive capital improvements, improving revenue, and reducing expenses by realizing operational efficiencies through implementation of institutional-quality property management. Bascom, founded by principals Jerry Fink, David Kim and Derek Chen, is one of the most active and seasoned buyers and operators of apartment communities in the United States. Bascom has completed over $10.0 billion in multifamily and commercial value-added transactions since 1996, including more than 270 multifamily properties containing over 71,000 units. Bascom has ranked among the top 50 multifamily owners in the United States.

Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $97 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2016. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented and risk-controlled approach to investments in distressed debt, corporate debt (including high yield debt and senior loans), control investing, convertible securities, real estate and listed equities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm has over 900 employees and offices in 18 cities worldwide.