KANSAS CITY, Mo.—H&R Block Inc. closed the sale of mortgage-loan servicing unit Option One to an affiliate of billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, the tax preparer said Thursday.
H&R Block said it used the money to repay about $980 million in debt on its servicing advance line of credit, leaving it with net cash proceeds of about $230 million.
H&R Block, which took big losses on its ill-timed foray into the mortgage market, said it booked gross proceeds of about $1.3 billion at the closing.
WL Ross & Co. will run Option One as part of its American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. unit. Option One serviced about $53 billion in subprime mortgages as of mid-March.
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