An investment fund that recently became a player in the world of mortgage banking has just made a huge acquisition that will boost its wholesale presence.
Finance of America Holdings LLC announced earlier this month that it had made a series of mortgage-related acquisitions.
Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Finance of America, with a staff of more than 3,000 employees, is a mortgage lending subsidiary of
The Blackstone Group LP.
On Friday, an announcement indicated that funds
managed by Blackstone’s private equity group will acquire a majority stake in Stearns Holdings LLC.
The acquisition will add
more than 1,800 people to Blackstone’s mortgage payroll based on Stearns’ June 30 headcount.
Stearns Founder and Chairman Glenn Stearns will reportedly become a partner with the asset management firm and
retain a significant ownership stake.
The move was reportedly made to give Stearns the resources needed to accelerate growth and expand market share.
“We chose Stearns to be our partner because it is a leader in the mortgage market with a world-class management team and a strong platform,” Blackstone Senior Managing Director Chinh Chu said in the release.
Santa Ana, California-based Stearns, the parent of Stearns Lending LLC, claims to be the No. 1 wholesale lender in the country.
It reported $13.5 billion in residential loan originations during the first half of this year, and $7.0 billion came from the wholesale channel.
In addition, Stearns claims the title of No. 1 “privately owned purchase-money mortgage lender in the U.S. for Q1 2015.”
No terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year.
