Wafra Capital Partners Purchases Controlling Interest
Wafra Capital Partners Inc. (WCP) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a controlling interest in Anchor Loans, the largest fix-and-flip lender in the United States, by a WCP affiliate. Anchor Loans (“Anchor” or “The Company”) was founded in 1998 as a trust deed investing start up, and is now a multi-billion dollar provider of financing to fix-and-flip entrepreneurs. Anchor will continue to be based in Calabasas, California and led by its CEO and co-founder Steve Pollack, whose leadership helped pioneer advanced technologies that have catapulted the Company into its number one status in the industry.
“Acquiring a controlling interest in Anchor, an investment partner of ours since 2015, represents a smart and agile decision to add to our growing real estate debt investment portfolio,” said Michael Gontar, CIO of WCP. “Anchor stands out as the strategic leader in a robust and growing fix-and-flip market, consistently posting strong numbers through varied market cycles. We look forward to its continued growth as we look to build our investment footprint.”
Anchor Loans was the first private fix-and-flip lender to fund more than $1 billion in loans in a single year, with more than $1 billion in funding transactions in 2016. The firm has remained the industry leader with more than $1.1 billion in transactions in 2017 and more than $1.4 billion in 2018. To date, Anchor has transacted more than $7.24 billion in fundings since 1998 across 21,700 loans.
An understanding of the cyclical nature of real estate investing is at the heart of Anchor’s investment philosophy, which informs the company’s expansion and risk-mitigation strategies.
“We are excited about how WCP’s investment and confidence in our lending strategy can help us grow deep into the future,” said Pollack of the acquisition. “Both firms shared a belief that taking the long view, even in the fast-paced fix-and-flip industry, is essential to sustained success. Working together made sense for both teams and we look forward to what we can accomplish together.”
