A bevy of recent mortgage mergers and acquisitions will help the acquiring firms increase originations, grow servicing portfolios and expand commercial mortgage production.
On Tuesday, Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. said it reached an agreement to buy Aurora Financial Group Inc. The acquisition will be made through subsidiary CMHI Solutions Inc.
Moorestown, N.J.-based Cherry Hill said it will pay $4 million for Aurora and assume $3 million in debt.
The closing date depends on market conditions and available financing.
The deal will provide Cherry Hill with approval to service agency loans. Aurora services $0.7 billion in mortgages.
“The agency approvals give us the ability to embark on our previously stated strategy of purchasing full MSRs … The ability to purchase full MSRs will expand market opportunities for the company and allow us to create our own excess MSRs,” Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. President and Chief Investment Officer Jay Lown said in the announcement. “Ultimately, we will become a more servicing-centric company with additional avenues for growth while continuing to focus on opportunities that will generate attractive risk-adjusted long-term returns for our shareholders.”
The assets of
Bank of Manhattan’s mortgage lending division will be acquired by Wilshire Bancorp Inc. under an agreement announced Monday. The deal is expected to close on Feb. 27, subject to general closing conditions.
Los Angeles-based Wilshire noted that it will continue to operate the acquired business on a scaled-down basis. Some production offices will be consolidated into Wilshire’s existing locations, and only high-performing loan officers and operations employees will be retained.
Bank of Manhattan has reportedly originated $3 billion since 2012, and Wilshire anticipates $0.55 billion in production during the first year following the acquisition and more than $1 billion annually after that — substantially raising Wilshire’s originations.
With the acquisition, Wilshire intends to diversify beyond the Korean community and
reduce its concentration in commercial real estate loans.
Mortgage broker Envision Mortgage Corp. has been acquired
by North State Bank in Wilmington, N.C. Envision was founded in 2010 by Bob Weber and Melanie Welsh.
In Austin, Texas, Open Mortgage LLC said in December it plans to acquire the reverse mortgage origination business of 360 Mortgage Group.
For its part, 360 Mortgage intends to increase its focus on acquiring forward and reverse mortgages through its wholesale and correspondent channels. It also plans to continue servicing reverse mortgages.
In commercial mortgage lending, NorthMarq Capital LLC announced this month an agreement to acquire the 60 percent of AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance that it doesn’t already own from founding partner Rodrigo Lopez and the investment firm McCarthy Capital. The deal is expected to close within 60 days subject to agency and regulatory approvals.
NorthMarq announced in December that it acquired 17-year-old
Quest Commercial Capital Corp. Susan Branscome, who founded Cincinnati-based Quest,
will stay on as managing director.
