New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE: NEW), a real estate investment trust and parent company of one of the nation's premier full-service mortgage finance companies, announced today that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, New Century Warehouse Corporation, will purchase certain assets and assume certain related liabilities of Access Lending Corporation, a privately held specialty finance company located in Sugar Land, Texas that provides warehouse lending services to middle-market residential-mortgage bankers (mortgage originations approximating $5 million to $100 million per month). Based on Access Lending's net assets as of November 30, 2005, the purchase price is valued at approximately $10 million in cash. Additionally, Access Lending is entitled to receive additional future payments for a period of two years. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
"This transaction allows New Century to enter the growing and underserved warehouse lending market with an established business and a proven, experienced management team," said Kevin M. Cloyd, Executive Vice President, Secondary Marketing of New Century Financial Corporation. "We believe having warehouse lending capabilities is an important competitive advantage, enhances the products and services we are able to provide to our growing network of thousands of correspondent lenders, and will be a valuable addition to our existing product offering."
"New Century shares our mission of delivering exceptional customer service by not only acting as a lender, but also as a trusted and value-added advisor," said David C. Fleig, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Access Lending Corporation. "Additionally, New Century's size and scale give us the financial strength to reach our long-term goals and we look forward to being part of the New Century team."
About New Century Financial Corporation
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Irvine, California, New Century Financial Corporation is a real estate investment trust and one of the nation's premier full-service mortgage finance companies, providing first and second mortgage products to borrowers nationwide through its operating subsidiaries, New Century Mortgage Corporation and Home123 Corporation. The company offers a broad range of mortgage products designed to meet the needs of all borrowers. New Century is committed to serving the communities in which it operates with fair and responsible lending practices. To find out more about New Century, please visit http://www.ncen.com.
About Access Lending Corporation
Access Lending, established in 1997, is an independent specialty finance company providing warehouse financing to the middle market segment of the residential mortgage origination industry. To find out more about Access Lending, please visit http://www.accesslending.com.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws and New Century and Access Lending intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) New Century's expectation that the transaction will close in the first quarter of 2006, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions; (ii) New Century's belief that the transaction will allow it to enter the growing and underserved warehouse lending market with an established business and a proven, experienced management team; (iii) New Century's belief that having warehouse lending capabilities will be an important competitive advantage, will enhance the products and services New Century is able to provide to its growing network of thousands of correspondent lenders and will be a valuable addition to its existing product offering; and (iv) Access Lending's belief that New Century's size and scale will give it the financial strength to reach its long-term goals. New Century and Access Lending caution that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) the satisfaction of the transaction's closing conditions; (ii) the approval of applicable government authorities and regulators of the transaction; (iii) the condition of the U.S. economy and financial system; (iv) the interest rate environment; (v) the effect of increasing competition in New Century's sector; (vi) the stability of residential property values; (vii) the potential effect of new state or federal laws and regulations; (viii) the outcome of litigation or regulatory actions pending against New Century; and (ix) New Century's ability to maintain adequate credit facilities to finance its business. Additional information on these and other factors is contained in New Century's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Century and Access Lending assume no, and hereby disclaim any, obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Source: prnewswire