Lender News
Ocwen Buys Mortgage Lender ClearPoint
The news comes days after Ocwen's announcement that it's selling its mortgage-servicing business
Just days after announcing that it is selling part of its mortgage-servicing business, Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) agreed to buy the mortgage-lending unit of New York investment bank Gleacher & Co. Inc. (Nasdaq: GLCH).
Gleacher has reached an agreement to sell its ClearPoint unit to Homeward Residential, an Ocwen subsidiary. The sale price was not disclosed. Gleacher said it expects the deal to close in the first quarter.
On Feb. 12, the Atlanta-based Ocwen announced that it had agreed to sell non-core parts of its Homeward and Residential Capital units to Altisource Portfolio Solutions. Ocwen bought Homeward last year for $750 million.
Gleacher also said on Friday that it is ending its search for a buyer or a merger partner.
"Although we did not believe any proposal we received during the process adequately reflected Gleacher's value, we will, as before, be opportunistic in considering value-building strategic initiatives that may accelerate our growth and improve stockholder returns," said Chief Executive Thomas Hughes in the press release.
Gleacher bought the Marlborough, Mass.-based ClearPoint in January 2011. In 2012, the investment bank recorded $53.4 in net revenue from ClearPoint, an 11 percent increase from 2011. Gleacher says it expects to record a $5 million loss on the sale.
Gleacher lost $11.5 million in the fourth quarter, it said Friday. Founder Eric Gleacher resigned as its chairman last month.
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