Mergers, Investments & Offerings

American Mortgage Express Financial announced it merged with its sister company, Millennium Funding Group, a Vancouver, Wash.-based national wholesale lender.

American Mortgage, a San Diego-based full-service mortgage lender with reported retail production of more than $3 billion last year, said the merger was intended to streamline corporate processes for “better leveraging the resources within the complete organization.” The alignment allows the company to serve both retail and wholesale conduits.

As a result of the transaction, Spencer Richardson and Dan King, cofounders of Millennium Funding Group, transitioned to the roles of chief executive officer and chief operating officer of American Mortgage.

Belvedere Trust Mortgage Corp. notified the SEC of a planned $100 million initial public offering, parent Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp. recently announced.

First American Corp., which claims it is the nation’s largest data provider, said it would increase its investment in Dorado Corp., a home-lending solutions provider, in a move to consolidate mortgage origination technology.

Dorado’s new Enterprise Lending System is the first to enable the unification of all loan channels, products, services, personnel, customers and fulfillment partners through a single point of sale, the announcement said.

In Greensboro, N.C., United Guaranty Corp. recently announced it took an equity position with mortgage fraud recovery services provider Investors Mortgage Asset Recovery Company LLC.

United, an American International Group Inc. subsidiary, provides mortgage insurance for first and second mortgages. Investors Mortgage reportedly provides a turnkey service to both recover and prevent mortgage fraud loans.

“Every participant in the mortgage process — the consumer, lender or servicer, insurer, and investor — stands to benefit from recovered losses, but many cases are either too difficult or too small to handle through typical recovery methods,” said Cindy Kirkley, vice president and group executive of AIG United Guaranty’s Domestic Services Group. “(Investors Mortgage) effectively solves these problems at minimal cost to the client.“

Genworth Financial Inc., another mortgage insurer, recently announced its tool, SecureFirst, electronically analyzes loans submitted through it’s automated underwriting platform to determine which loans need further review. Genworth said its customers will be alerted of potential problems early in the loan origination process.

Last week, eForce Media Inc. announced it expected to finalize an agreement to acquire Global Direct Marketing Solutions Inc. in August.

“By combining eForce Media’s online lead generation technology with Global Direct’s Call-in lead transfer services, our larger clients will be able to realize the benefits of immediate connection with a consumer in the form of a real-time link through inbound calls to a sales center,” eForce chairman and founder Matt Hill, said in a written statement.

eForce said it expects to maximize its return on investment and realize substantial increases in gross margins, by offering a “call in” opportunity to Internet users who wish immediate contact for a product or service and to further qualify any lead generated online.