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Industry Watch: Empower conditionally sold, CMG buys Homebridge’s retail operation and more

CMG Mortgage announced its asset acquisition of the retail division of Homebridge Financial Services. Peter Norden, CEO of Homebridge, will act as executive advisor to CMG’s retail division to ensure a successful transition of the former Homebridge retail sales team, which includes more than 180 retail branches throughout the U.S. Homebridge will retain its wholesale division.

Black Knight announced the sale of its Empower loan origination system to a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc., although the sale is conditional to the acquisition of Black Knight by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moving to block the latter acquisition, Constellation’s purchase may have to wait for a resolution to the FTC’s challenge. ICE and Black Knight have indicated that they are willing to litigate to obtain approval of the merger, if necessary.

Impac Mortgage announced a business update, repositioning its retail consumer-direct lending division as a mortgage brokerage. According to a statement from the company, the shift allows Impac to “originate a variety of products that serve its national consumer base at a reduced cost per loan due to significant expense abatement relative to specialized staffing, operations, technology and business promotion.” Impac expects nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) originations to remain its dominant product as a broker shop. The company is also winding down the operation of its third-party origination channel, which experienced significant volume and margin deterioration last year.

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