Lender Impac Mortgage Holdings announced a deal to sell its seller/servicer subsidiary, AmeriHome Mortgage Corp.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.
As part of the deal, Impac will off-load AmeriHome’s agency servicing portfolio of $700 million in unpaid principal balance. The sale will not affect the operations of Excel Mortgage Servicing, the company’s licensed mortgage originator and GSE-approved seller and servicer.
Without AmeriHome included, Excel’s total originations are expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2013, while its servicing portfolio is estimated to hit $2.5 billion.
Impac originates roughly $500 million per quarter in Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac eligible loans.
The company's announcement comes at a time when the lending and servicing space is shifting. Firms are either selling off units to streamline their operations or partnering up with mergers and joint agreements to gain competitive leverage in a difficult market.
If anything, Impac is looking for new opportunities in lending. Back in September, the firm announced plans to re-enter the residential warehouse lending business through a new division, Impac Warehouse Lending.
The company immediately began accepting applications and said it would finance conforming loans alongside jumbo loans valued up to $3 million.
It also returned to offering high LTV HARP products with loan-to-value ratios as high as 150%.
"We believe the sale of AmeriHome mortgage lending platform will give the company additional options as we navigate through the current challenging mortgage market," said Joe Tomkinson, chairman and chief executive officer. "Looking forward, our goal by the first quarter of next year is to further position the company to take advantage of opportunities in the mortgage lending market as new regulatory rules take effect."
