National mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate is acquiring Stearns Holdings, parent company of wholesale, retail and correspondent lender Stearns Lending, from Blackstone for an undisclosed sum.
The deal gives Guaranteed Rate additional multichannel capabilities and builds on the company’s goal to become the country’s number one mortgage lender.
Stearns was founded in 1989 and operates in all 50 states through retail, joint venture, partnership and wholesale channels.
The acquisition will enable Guaranteed Rate to bolster retail loan origination and further scale its JV platform, while also developing new multichannel capabilities.
The pending acquisition comes at a time of significant momentum for Guaranteed Rate, which recorded its best production year ever in 2020.
Stearns Holdings has an extensive partnership model that includes real estate agent, builder and relocation joint ventures, private label relationships and independent mortgage bank preferred partnerships.
These partnerships include well-known brands such as SoFi and Home Mortgage Alliance.
Combining these entities with Guaranteed Rate’s existing joint ventures with Realogy and @properties will create one of the largest partnership platforms in the country, the company says in a release.
The acquisition also allows Guaranteed Rate to enter the wholesale channel to complement the company’s multichannel distribution vision.
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