Norcom Mortgage

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage lenders GO Mortgage and PacRes struck a deal to merge their businesses, allowing them to gain scale and reduce the cost of originating a loan in a higher-for-longer mortgage rate environment. The financials of the transaction were not disclosed. 

“By uniting our unique capabilities and resources, we will achieve significant operational improvements,” Michael Isaacs, CEO of GO Mortgage, said in a prepared statement. Matt Stashin, CEO and founder of PacRes Mortgage, added that “in today’s lending environment, a focus on driving down the cost to originate a loan is critically important.”

The parties expect the transaction, announced on Friday, to close in the third quarter of 2024. 

Loan volume has the potential to double in the combined company. Mortgage tech platform Modex shows that Columbus, Ohio-based GO Mortgage originated about $690 million in mortgage loans over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, Portland, Oregon-headquartered PacRes produced about $440 million in the same period. 

According to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), GO Mortgage is combining its 91 sponsored loan officers and 26 active branches with PacRes’s 63 sponsored LOs and 16 active branches. 

The companies are complementary geographically. GO Mortgage gets most of its business in states such as Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, while PacRes is focused in Oregon, California, and Utah, per Modex data. Both companies are focused on originating purchase mortgages. 

According to the merger agreement, Stashin will join the GO Mortgage board of directors, Isaacs will be the combined company CEO, and Melissa Stashin, the president and cofounder of PacRes, will become president of the merged business.

PacRes cofounder and executive vice president Eric Wiley will be chief experience officer, and GO Mortgage’s Andrew Panagos will become chief operating officer. 

Mortgage industry experts anticipated more merger and acquisition transactions in 2024 amid a challenging landscape. In 2023, HousingWire reported on 62 mergers, acquisitions, exits, and bankruptcies.  

So far this year, Utah-based Capital Community Bank (CCBank) acquired Security Home Mortgage (SHM), and California-based Mountain West Financial sold its retail assets to competitor ML Mortgage Corp. 

Earlier in the year, CrossCountry Mortgage acquired Amcap Home Loans, Guild Mortgage struck an agreement with Academy Mortgage, and New American Funding (NAF) nabbed Draper & Kramer Mortgage Corp. In addition, CMG Financial acquired Norcom Mortgage’s retail assets. 

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

California-based multichannel mortgage lender CMG Financial announced on Thursday that it acquired Norcom Mortgage’s retail assets, expanding its operations in the Northeast with the addition of 25 branches from Maryland to Maine. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Norcom Mortgage has made the strategic decision to focus on and continue to grow our wholesale platform as TPO GO,” Norcom President Phil DeFronzo said in a prepared statement.

The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) shows that Norcom — as well as Third Party Origination Go and TPO Go — is listed as a trade name under Norwich Commercial Group Inc., which had 142 sponsored loan officers and 41 active branches as of April 11. 

Norcom Mortgage retail operations will add to the 1,813 sponsored LOs and 389 active branches currently with CMG Financial, per NMLS. The acquirer works in the retail, wholesale and correspondent channels. It also operates seven joint venture companies with builder and Realtor partners. 

CMG was the 16th-largest mortgage lender in the country in 2023, with volume of $20.16 billion that was up 19.9% year over year, according to Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) estimates. The company, however, claims it reached $21.5 billion last year, enough to make it No. 12. 

Founded in 1993 by Christopher M. George, a former Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) chairman, CMG has engaged in M&A activity and added rival teams over the past year.

In March 2023, the company struck a deal to acquire Homebridge Financial Services‘ retail division and grow its footprint in the channel. Homebridge was set to merge with Mike Cagney‘s Figure Technologies, but the deal fell apart just 10 months after the announcement was made.

CMG announced another deal in November 2023 with the integration of Shamrock Home Loans’ origination team. 

Source: housingwire.com