Wintrust Financial closes Veterans First Mortgage purchase

The deal includes the acquisition of about $1.4 billion in principal balance of servicing rights

Wintrust Financial closes Veterans First Mortgage purchase
Wintrust Financial has announced that it has completed its previously announced deal to acquire Veterans First Mortgage.

Wintrust closed the deal through the Wintrust Mortgage division of its Barrington Bank & Trust unit, which acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of iFreedom Direct, which does business as Veterans First Mortgage.

As part of the transaction, Wintrust Mortgage also acquired servicing rights from Veterans First Mortgage on approximately 8,300 loans, totaling an estimated $1.4 billion in principal balance.

The acquisition brings Wintrust Mortgage a platform that integrates CRM technology, customized loan origination software, and telephony systems.

The parties did not disclose the terms of the cash transaction. However, Wintrust Financial said in a press release that a significant portion of the purchase price for Veterans First Mortgage assets is conditioned upon certain future profitability measures. The company expects the acquisition to be slightly accretive to its 2018 earnings per share.

A consumer direct lender, Veterans First Mortgage has two offices in Salt Lake City and one in San Diego. In 2017, the approximately 400-employee strong company originated $800 million in loans. Veterans First Mortgage specializes in VA lending, primarily for new home purchases.

"This acquisition will allow Wintrust Mortgage to expand both in size and structure," Wintrust Mortgage President and CEO David Hrobon previously said when the deal was announced. "Veterans First Mortgage has built a terrific consumer direct lending business with some of the industry's brightest leadership and employees. We look forward to the synergistic opportunities that will arise from this merger of talent."


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