Black Knight Acquires Ernst Publishing Co.

On Thursday, Black Knight Inc. announced the acquisition of Ernst Publishing Co., a provider of technology and closing cost data for the real estate and home finance industries. With this acquisition, Black Knight plans to more tightly integrate the Ernst capabilities into its premier suite of origination solutions, while also making the technology and data available to companies who do not currently use the Black Knight Empower loan origination system (LOS), including Ernst’s current industry partners and clients.

Black Knight said that it would augment its existing fee engine with Ernst's capabilities including recording fees, transfer taxes, inspection fees, property taxes, and title premium fees to create a unified access point for all fee-related needs.

“Without a doubt, Ernst is the leading provider of fee and tax data in the industry,” said Rich Gagliano, President of Black Knight’s Origination Technologies division. “By tightly integrating this technology and data into our origination product suite, we are able to better serve our existing clients. This is another step forward in our mission to provide a truly end-to-end origination solution, which will be unparalleled in the industry.”

For more than 29 years, Ernst has been a leading provider of fee information to the mortgage industry, offering fee results for loan estimates and closing disclosures in near real-time through web, XML, mobile and custom-fee engine technology.

“Ernst and Black Knight share very similar goals – to create innovative solutions that transform the industry, support regulatory and compliance requirements, and create a better borrower experience,” said Greg Teal, CEO of Ernst. “As the leading provider of software, data and analytics to the mortgage industry, we are confident that Black Knight will take the capabilities Ernst is known for and elevate them to the next level to help advance the industry.”