GE, Blackstone to Acquire PHH Corp for $1.8B in Cash

GE Capital Solutions and The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, have reached a deal to acquire PHH Corp for $1.8 billion at $31.50/share, or a 13% premium over yesterday's $27.81 close. PHH was spun off from Cendant in 2005, although it still maintains an alliance with Realogy (formerly Cendant's real estate business), according to Hoover's.com. GE will sell PHH's residential mortgage business to Blackstone after the closing of the transaction, which is expected to close in Q3-07. GE will keep PHH Arval, a fleet management services business in North America. At the time of publishing, PHH was trading up 11% at $30.85.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch
Stocks/ETFs to watch: PHH Corp (PHH), General Electric (GE), Realogy (H). Competitors: Countrywide Financial (CFC), Washington Mutual (WM)

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