Jon Wright, SVP and managing director of GMACCM's asset-backed lending division, was named managing partner of the new subsidiary. He will remain based in Atlanta. Neither Bankers Bank nor a GMACCM spokesperson would disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.

Atlanta's Bankers Bank is the largest of 19 bankers banks in the US, all of which are bank-owned and chartered specifically to serve only financial institutions. It has $1.6 billion in assets and a customer base of more than 1,100 community financial institutions.

"Until now, regional banks and large-scale finance companies have held substantial market share in the critical equipment finance and specialty mortgage arena," says Tom Bryan, Bankers Bank's CEO. The new specialty finance group will afford its customer banks the opportunity to participate "in a line of business previously dominated by the larger institutions," he adds.

"Through participations and whole loan sales, our specialty finance group will provide additional sources of income for our community banks as well as additional outlets for commercial mortgage opportunities," Bryan says. He describes the formation of the subsidiary as "part of a continuing effort to bring community banks products and services that enable them to remain competitive by attracting new customers, maintaining existing relationships and increasing fee income."

Wright says the specialty finance group will continue a correspondent lender relationship with GMACCM and its existing borrower base and relationships within the capital and syndication markets "as an originator, issuer, and investor of quality, added-value financing opportunities."

In addition to its Atlanta headquarters, Bankers Bank has offices in Birmingham, AL; Charlotte, NC; Nashville; Tampa, FL; and Winston-Salem, NC; and, as part of the acquisition, will now have offices in Boston, Houston and San Diego. GMACCM's asset-backed lending division was formed seven years ago as a standalone entity.