A California mortgage broker with nearly $3 billion in annual originations announced a deal to acquire a wholesale lender.
The broker, First Priority Financial Corp., said in a news release yesterday that it reached an agreement to acquire privately held Austin Perry Financial Corp.
Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by Dec. 31, weren’t disclosed. The two companies are expected to be fully integrated by March 31, 2010.
First Priority, based in Fairfield, Calif., reports that it has 1,000 loan originators who fund more than 10,000 home loans annually for nearly $3 billion. During its lifetime, the company’s fundings reportedly total 100,000 transactions.
First Priority “was one of few companies surviving the industry meltdown without posting any losses or going through a single layoff,” while Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Austin Perry was among the “few who remained financially strong while the majority of their mortgage banking peers floundered or barely hung on.”
First Priority said it “stuck to brokering” in the past because it was financially best for the borrower and the originator. But the changing lending environment prompted a change in strategy.
However, the firm said it plans to continue expanding and refining the brokerage channel.
