Blackstone, BlackRock Among Rescap Suitors

NEW YORK (Reuters) – GMAC’s Residential Capital unit is attracting early buyer interest, including from BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and Blackstone Group (BX.N), according to sources familiar with the matter.

Others that could be interested in ResCap include investor Wilbur Ross, the sources said, declining to be named because these talks are private.

A group of big funds had even put together a management team to explore a bid for ResCap, one of the sources said.

GMAC, majority-owned by the U.S. government after multiple bailouts, has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) to advise it on a range of strategic issues, including alternatives for the mortgage business and repayment of the U.S. taxpayer, sources said.

Any process to sell ResCap is still in the early stages, although GMAC has received several “interesting inquiries”, according to those sources.

“We are currently evaluating strategic alternatives for the mortgage business with a goal of containing risk and preserving value in the business,” GMAC said on Tuesday.

Blackstone, BlackRock, Goldman and Citigroup declined comment. Wilbur Ross was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal and Megan Davies; editing by Carol Bishopric)