Ferguson and Shively launch first site that can manage e-finance solutions

Real Estate Weekly, June 21, 2000

CapitalThinking (www.CapitalThinking.com) is one of the only online commercial mortgage marketplaces providing complete e-finance solutions to the U.S. commercial mortgage industry. By combining cutting-edge Internet technology with experienced real estate professionals, CapitalThinking's solution brings unmatched efficiency to the entire process of securing and closing commercial real estate loans.

Launched March 1, CapitalThinking is the brainchild of Charles Ferguson and real estate finance veteran Heather Shively. The first e-business site designed to carefully manage labor-intensive, document-burdened commercial finance transactions while allowing for significantly quicker closings. CapitalThinking closed its first loan on May 16, a $2.8 million multi-family acquisition deal funded by J.P. Morgan. The loan closed in forty days.

"CapitalThinking's mission is to serve the needs of lenders, mortgage brokers and borrowers by accelerating the process of closing commercial loans," says Shively, the company's Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Commercial real estate lending is an inherently complex area with many moving parts, and our Internet solution streamlines loan inquiry, underwriting and closing procedures. Incorporating leading-edge technology backed by veteran commercial real estate underwriters, our business model adds value by increasing efficiency and lowering transaction costs."

A 20-member in-house technology group has collaborated for the past year with CapitalThinking's industry-leading team of real estate professionals to successfully re-engineer the commercial real estate finance process. The result is unprecedented speed and efficiency in the commercial lending process and a reputation for placing the highest quality, properly matched deals in the business. Using CapitalThinking's web-enabled deal processing system -- which includes a third-party interface allowing due diligence providers online participation in active deals -- brokers, borrowers and lenders benefit by closing better deals faster, with less paperwork.

CapitalThinking offers mortgage bankers and brokers access to a large network of capital sources -- conduits, money center banks, insurance companies, regional banks and non-traditional lenders. By working with CapitalThinking, brokers can increase deal flow and expedite closing times by effectively automating their back offices and harnessing the power of the Internet for their clients. CapitalThinking prepares highly professional loan packages in lender-specific underwriting formats, and gives mortgage bankers/brokers the ability to track the status of deals on a user-friendly internet site as well as the ability to manage third parties involved in the due diligence and closing process. By leveraging CapitalThinking's investment in technology and systems development, brokers and mortgage bankers realize increased productivity, profitability and client satisfaction.

For borrowers, CapitalThinking offers wider access to funding choices, faster closing times, reduced paperwork, and increased control of the process. CapitalThinking also provides real-time access to loan rates tailored to specific deals and unprecedented access to tools and resources. (e.g. loan calculators, industry data, etc.), as well as online, real-time deal status information that accounts for all the parties involved. For borrowers seeking direct funding, CapitalThinking offers quick pricing alternatives and rapid loan sourcing through the most technologically advanced and structurally robust site in the industry, delivering highest quality national and regional banks, insurance companies and conduits.

CapitalThinking delivers premium-quality preliminary underwriting analysis to the lender community, with transactions pre-scrubbed by the industry's largest group of seasoned professionals to ensure deals are properly packaged and in line with lender appetites. Using a proprietary database matching system, virtually all supporting documentation is electronically distributed and custom tailored in the lender's own underwriting format to minimize duplication and reentry of data. CapitalThinking's systems integrate directly with a lender's legacy systems and back office. A central document repository, with access on a permission basis from the lender; helps streamline document processing and features an automated tracking system for all parties to know the status of the transaction at any given time.

CapitalThinking currently offers brokers and borrowers access to a well-diversified group of 23 of the nation's top lenders. Loans in CapitalThiniking's pipeline represent mezzanine, fixed rate (including small loan), floating rate, construction, mezzanine/preferred equity, and credit tenant lease lending.

CapitalThinking recently closed a $15 million second round of venture capital financing, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and RRE Ventures. iStar Financial and ABP Investments also committed funds. Aberdare Ventures led the company's first-round financing of $3.4 million raised in September 1999.