It seems the subprime mortgage mess has stalled H&R Block Inc.'s disposal of its Option One Mortgaging Corp. unit, a wholesale originator of nonprime residential mortgage loans. The financial services firm best known for its tax filing business announced hiring Goldman, Sachs & Co. to help sell the business in November before the recent stories about rising delinquencies in the subprime market, which has already led to subprime lenders filing for bankruptcy. Now, the company announced its March deadline is no longer realistic. H&R Block had expected to sell the business for $1.3 billion, but now its likely sale price would be $850 million, according to The Deal's Auction Block database. —Matthew Wurtzel
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