ORIX Unites Lancaster Pollard, Hunt, RED Capital Under Lument Brand

Three big names in senior housing finance — Hunt Real Estate Capital, Lancaster Pollard and RED Capital Group — now are unified under a single brand name, Lument.

The three firms were acquired individually by ORIX USA, a division of international financial services group ORIX Corporation. ORIX took full ownership of RED in 2016; acquired Lancaster Pollard in 2017; and added Hunt in 2019.

Creating a unified brand was part of the plan as the three firms integrated under the ORIX umbrella, James Flynn, CEO of the unified entity, told Senior Housing News in January 2020.

“We want to be viewed by our clients as partners and not simply a vendor or lender — we really want to be their partner in providing them with advisory services and lending opportunities and other capital solutions, both corporately and on a transaction basis,” he said. “I can assure you that will be a centerpiece of the overall brand and messaging for the market.”

Lancaster Pollard, Hunt and RED Capital were all major senior housing lenders individually, and now Lument is the largest FHA lender to the senior housing industry and is a top-three senior housing lender overall, as well as being a top-10 non-bank multifamily lender.

The brand name Lument was selected due to its associations with light and energy — important attributes given current uncertainties, Flynn said in a press release announcing the new brand.

“The compelling factor that led us to bring these companies together was their shared commitment to building relationships and driving their clients’ success,” said Terry Suzuki, president and CEO of ORIX Corporation USA. “As Lument, we can draw on the strength of our combined platforms and the depth of ORIX’s balance sheet to make that personal service more powerful than ever.”

Combining the platforms has entailed some operational changes.

“We have integrated all our credit, production, closing, technology, and support groups, and have worked to provide them with the resources and processes needed to conduct business even more efficiently,” Flynn told SHN in an email. “In addition, we are using the occasion of unifying our technology across the organization as an opportunity to provide a simpler, more powerful, and more productive experience for users. This includes developing a proprietary underwriting and pipeline system, expanding on the items we can support in terms of client document uploads, and widening the scope of our servicing portal to support a larger set of clients.”

Lument has continued to expand its portfolio even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm noted in its Tuesday press release. A recently announced transaction is the $33 million Fannie Mae refinance of The Plaza at Punchbowl, a senior housing community in Honolulu.

“In recent months, we have seen a lot of refinancings and note modifications, as borrowers look to capitalize on historically low interest rates and preserve liquidity,” Flynn told SHN. “We have found that during this challenging time, the best way for us to serve our clients has been to provide fast and efficient note modifications that save our clients’ money with minimal effort on their part. I expect that to continue going forward, but we should also see an increase in new construction, as those projects that were pushed to the side when the pandemic started should begin to move forward.”