PE-Backed Nationstar Mortgage Prices IPO

Residential mortgage loan servicer Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc., which is backed by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group, has priced its upcoming initial public offering, Reuters reported Friday. The Lewisville, Texas-based company expects to sell 16.7 million shares at $17 to $19 apiece.

(Reuters) – Residential mortgage loan servicer Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc said it expects to sell 16.7 million shares at $17 to $19 apiece in its initial public offering.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lewisville, Texas-based company also said it expects to list its shares under the ticker symbol “NSM” on the New York Stock Exchange.

The lead underwriters of the IPO are BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo Securities.

The company filed for an IPO of up to $400 million last May, but at the midpoint of the expected price range, it will raise only about $300 million in proceeds.

Regulatory scrutiny of bank mortgage servicers is expected to benefit non-bank residential mortgage servicers like Nationstar.

Earlier this month, five large U.S. banks that had been under investigation over faulty mortgage practices agreed to a $25 billion settlement with 49 states and federal agencies.

Nationstar Mortgage, which is backed by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC, said it had serviced over 645,000 residential mortgage loans as of December 31, 2011.