The acquisition of Mr. Cooper [1] (formerly Nationstar Mortgage), the Coppell, Texas-based mortgage servicing company, has completed its merger with the formerly owned Washington Mutual Bank, Seattle-based WMIH Corp. [2]
WMIH Corp. was formerly Washington Mutual Inc., the parent of Washington Mutual Bank. But Washington Mutual was seized by the Office of Thrift Supervision in 2008, and the bank holding company filed for bankruptcy. But, in 2012, the organization emerged from bankruptcy and began searching for acquisitions, primarily focusing on the “financial institutions sector,” a role that WMIH’s executives said Nationstar was perfect to fill.
“Nationstar aligns perfectly with our acquisition strategy and has a strong track record of providing mortgage servicing and loan and real estate offerings in various market conditions,” said Bill Gallagher, CEO of WMIH, in a statement.
With the finalization of this acquisition, Champion Mortgage, a division of Nationstar Mortgage LLC which offers multiple solutions to meet the reverse mortgage needs its customers, has found itself a new corporate umbrella.
Mr. Cooper has owned Champion Mortgage since 2007, and under the terms of the merger, Mr. Cooper will emerge as the nominal survivor of the deal, The newly combined company will then eventually rebrand under the name "Mr. Cooper Group Inc." This renaming is indicated as a recognition of the organization's new forward-mortgage branding.
In August of 2017, Nationstar’s CEO, Jay Bray, said the company spent more than $90 million in upgrading its operating and consumer technology and spent 50,000 hours training employees, while about two years ago, around 20 percent of the company’s portfolio was in loans that Nationstar had originated or refinanced (as opposed to existing loans that Nationstar bought for cheap from banks). At the time of the merger's announcement, he said that was up to about 30 percent.
"We are pleased to complete this merger and begin our next phase of growth as an even stronger company, well-positioned to capitalize on the trends in the housing market and build on our leadership in the industry,” Bray said in a statement announcing the finalized merger.