Mergers & Acquisitions

Short Takes: GSEs Delay UCD Timeline / Lending Up Slightly in 1Q at Figure / Newrez Launches CES Product in Wholesale / PartnerOne Acquires Mortgage Cadence

bivey@imfpubs.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:55:00 -0400

The GSEs plan to announce a new adoption date for the Uniform Closing Dataset during the fourth quarter of 2026.

UWM Critical of Two Harbors Following Rejected Acquisition

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:58:00 -0400

UWM called Two Harbors a "melting ice cube" in a statement shared after the REIT announced it will move forward with an acquisition bid from CrossCountry Mortgage.

Two Harbors Drops UWM Plan, Switches to CrossCountry

bivey@imfpubs.com — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:57:00 -0400

As part of the agreement, CrossCountry paid $25.4 million to United Wholesale Mortgage, a termination fee to end the acquisition agreement UWM had with Two Harbors.

Short Takes: Home Price Appreciation Slows / Tech Investor Buying Lender / First-Lien HELOC Securitization / Zions Bank to Acquire Multifamily Unit

bivey@imfpubs.com — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 11:55:00 -0400

Home prices increased by 0.1% on a monthly, seasonally-adjusted basis, according to Redfin.

Bidding War Breaks Out for Two Harbors

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 11:58:00 -0400

UWM has two days to improve its proposal for acquiring Two Harbors after CrossCountry Mortgage and an unnamed bidder placed rival offers.

Short Takes: Sales of New Homes Drop / Sluggish Applications / FDIC Rescinds Failed-Bank Policy

bivey@imfpubs.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:55:00 -0400

The seasonally-adjusted annual rate of sales of new homes dropped 17.6% on a monthly basis in January.

Short Takes: Profits Down on Timing Quirk / Unsolicited Bid for Two Harbors / CrossCountry to Acquire Summit Funding / Loan Star Fund Eyes $10 Billion of Non-Agency Mortgages

bivey@imfpubs.com — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 11:55:00 -0400

Due to accounting rules, earnings from the loans locked during the third quarter of 2025 were recognized in the third quarter rather than the fourth quarter.

Shareholder Service Recommendation a Hurdle for UWM’s Plan

bivey@imfpubs.com — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:57:00 -0400

Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Two Harbors shareholders vote against the planned acquisition by UWM.

Short Takes: Freedom to Acquire Seneca Mortgage Servicing / Two Harbors Vote Extended / Experian Offers Free Preview of Verification / Community Bank Launches Mortgage Unit

bivey@imfpubs.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:55:00 -0400

Seneca owned mortgage servicing rights with an unpaid principal balance of $42.31 billion as of the end of December, according to estimates by Inside Mortgage Finance.

Newfi Lending Eyes Growth Through More Investments

azimmardi@imfpubs.com — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:56:00 -0400

Newfi is looking for fill-ups or minority investment opportunities to grow its business.

Short Takes: UWM Touts Benefits for Two Harbors Shareholders / CrossCountry Forms Builder Division / Margins Decline at Homebuilder / Iran Conflict and Home Purchases

bivey@imfpubs.com — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 11:55:00 -0400

There are indications that some Two Harbors shareholders will oppose the planned acquisition by United Wholesale Mortgage because it’s an all-stock deal and UWM’s stock is trading near the lowest level it’s been at since UWM became a publicly traded company in early 2021.

Better Turns to Stablecoin for Warehouse Funding Alternative

bivey@imfpubs.com — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:56:00 -0500

Framework Ventures operates a decentralized finance ecosystem known as Sky, which links stablecoins with various types of assets.

Short Takes: Potential for Rate Cut Takes a Hit / Radian Closer to Selling Ancillary Units / Pending Home Sales Slump / Risk of a Recession Declines

bivey@imfpubs.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:55:00 -0500

Recent inflation trends along with the strong jobs report for January “suggest the lower likelihood of a rate cut” at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting, according to Joel Kan, a vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Short Takes: Union Home Eyes M&A / No Downgrade for Pennymac / Hildene to Issue Large Expanded-Credit MBS With CrossCountry / Bank Turns to MortgageCountry

bivey@imfpubs.com — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:55:00 -0500

Union Home Mortgage hired a national vice president of mergers and acquisitions.

Rithm’s Commercial Loan REIT Eyes Lender Acquisition

bivey@imfpubs.com — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:57:00 -0500

Rithm Property Trust is looking to acquire an agency multifamily loan originator or servicer.

Pennymac to Acquire Cenlar, Sale Price Could Top $200 Million

bivey@imfpubs.com — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:57:00 -0500

Some $307.0 billion of Cenlar's subservicing portfolio is in the process of leaving Cenlar or has provisions allowing a move to a different subservicer if Cenlar is sold.

Short Takes: Trump’s Bold Plan / HUD Proposes Removing Discriminatory Effects Regulations / Sales of New Homes Steady / Newrez to Allow Crypto Assets / U.S. Bank to Acquire BTIG

bivey@imfpubs.com — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 11:55:00 -0500

“As part of those efforts, next week at Davos I’m going to provide much more detail about our housing policy so that every American who wants to own a home will be able to afford one,” President Trump said.

Short Takes: Annaly Kicks Off 2026 With Non-QM MBS / First Federal Acquires Fidelity’s Mortgage Group / Pinnacle, Synovus Complete Merger / MBA Hires New CFO

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 11:55:00 -0500

Annaly markets its first non-QM MBS of 2026; First Federal to acquire Fidelity Bank's NOLA Lending Group affiliate; Pinnacle completes acquisition of Synovous; MBA has a new CFO.

Short Takes: Mr. Cooper Layoffs / KBRA on UWM, Two Harbor Deal / Investors Push to Acquire Land in Areas Impacted by CA Wildfires / OceanFirst to Acquire Flushing Financial

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:55:00 -0500

Mr. Cooper announces layoffs following merger; KBRA believes UWM and Two Harbors deal will be strategically favorable; Investor increasing land purchases for areas impacted by California wildfires; Flushing Financial to merge with OceanFirst Financial.

Short Takes: reAlpha Acquires Mortgage Lender / Huntington, Cadence Merger Gets Approval / Mutual of Omaha Names New COO / Promotion at The Standard / Publishing Break

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:55:00 -0500

The addition of InstaMortgage will give reAlpha direct mortgage lending capabilities.

UWM to Acquire Two Harbors, Eyeing Servicing

bivey@imfpubs.com — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:59:00 -0500

Two Harbors held MSRs with a total unpaid principal balance of $175.82 billion as of the end of September.

Short Takes: Housing Trust Fund Allocation Later This Year / Milliman Acquires MorVest Capital / Monthly Mortgage Payments Rise / Chase Preps Jumbo MBS

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 11:55:00 -0500

Housing Trust Fund allocations for 2026 were just announced, months behind the usual timeline.

Large MSR Owners Considering Sales in Early 2026

pmuolo@imfpubs.com — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 11:57:00 -0500

Originations aren’t growing very much, putting pressure on MSR owners.

Short Takes: Bayview Officially Takes Guild Private / MISMO Finalizes New Credit Score Implementation Guide / Chase Offers Refi Deals for Cyber Monday / Cornerstone Capital Hires VP to Grow Mortgage Business

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:55:00 -0500

The Guild acquisition was valued at approximately $1.3 billion.

Onity Shifts on Reverse Mortgages, Turns to FoA

bivey@imfpubs.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:56:00 -0500

Onity is selling reverse-mortgage MSRs to Finance of America Reverse and ending production of the loans.

Short Takes: Ishbia Confident in a Record 4Q / Blend Turns Profit in 3Q / Stewart to Acquire Property Preservation Company

bivey@imfpubs.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 11:55:00 -0500

“I’ve just guided that no matter what, I’m going to have the best quarter we’ve had in 4 years,” said Mat Ishbia, chairman, CEO and president of United Wholesale Mortgage. “Maybe you guys will recognize that and realize that we’re dominating out here.”

Guild Earnings Up Ahead of Acquisition by Bayview

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 11:57:00 -0500

Gain-on-sale margins and a strong recapture rate helped boost Guild earnings in the third quarter.

Carrington Grows Retail Channel With New Acquisition

jdohnert@imfpubs.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 11:59:00 -0500

Carrington has acquired Reliance First Capital from Tiptree in a move to bolster its retail lending channel.

M&A Deals Bolster 3Q25 Servicing Sales

jbancroft@imfpubs.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:05:00 -0400

The biggest bulk transfer in 3Q25: Lakeview Loan Servicing’s purchase of $28.56 billion of MSR from UWM...

Short Takes: The M&A Machine? / Small- and Medium-Sized / MSRs for Sale / A Non-QM MBS From JPM / The Top 10 Lenders

pmuolo@imfpubs.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:01:00 -0400

JPMorgan Chase is ready to issue a $801.6 million MBS backed by non-qualified mortgages. Most of the collateral was originated by United Wholesale Mortgage, the nation’s largest originator…