(Reuters) - Annaly Capital Management Inc has agreed to sell its commercial real estate business to investment firm Slate Asset Management in a deal valued at $2.33 billion to sharpen its focus on its core residential mortgage finance business. Annaly said in a statement on Thursday that the deal, which is expected to close by the third quarter of 2021, includes equity interests, loan assets and commercial mortgage-backed securities that were part of the commercial real estate unit. The company said it expects the deal to have an immaterial impact on its key financial metrics and that it plans to use proceeds to repay its financing facilities related to the commercial real estate assets. Evercore is serving as the financial advisor to Annaly, while BMO Capital Markets is serving as the financial advisor to Slate.