TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/539233
10 | Th e M Rep o RT Citadel Servicing Now Using USRES Valuation Services The parTnership will help CiTadel supply spoT-on values while growing usres' neTwork. U .S. Real Estate Services (USRES), a nationwide appraisal management company (AMC) headquartered in Lake Forest, California, has announced that Citadel Servic- ing Corporation (CSC) is using its origination broker price opin- ion (BPO) services, according to an announcement from USRES. CSC is using USRES' BPO services in order to ensure more accurate valuations. By performing BPOs on CSC's origination loans, USRES can reconcile initial prices generated by completed appraisals. CSC's brokers can directly connect with USRES to register and place orders through the CSC website. "An accurate valuation is the foundation of every real estate transaction and something our cli- ents have confidence that USRES will always deliver," said Keith Guenther, co-founder and CEO of USRES. "Our nearly 25-year track record of success on default side enables us to offer our partners more competitive pricing and turn times than other AMCs, which were major factors during Citadel Servicing Corporation's selection of USRES. Additionally, having our own in-house auditing team comprised of licensed appraisers is one element that sets USRES apart, giving our clients assurance that they will receive exceptional service and consistent, precise valuations the first time." Headquartered in Irvine, California, CSC specializes in non-prime loans on both owner- occupied and non-owner-occupied residential properties. USRES maintains its own in-house staff of licensed appraisers, the only BPO provider to do so. The staff audits every order for content and accuracy. In addition, a network of carefully selected, licensed ap- praisers supports both origination and default appraisal services for USRES. "We are excited to expand our breadth of AMC partners and look forward to this new partner- ship with USRES," said Daniel Perl, CEO of CSC. IPO Set at $441 Million for Black Knight Financial Services The Florida-based Company saw iTs sToCk surge over 10 perCenT on The day oF iTs nyse debuT. A n initial public offering (IPO) of 18 million shares of Class A common stock from Black Knight Fi- nancial Services, a Jacksonville, Florida-based technology, data, on the web Mortgage Momentum New alliances, major milestones, and million-dollar debuts are driving the industry forward. and analytics solutions provider for the mortgage industry, de- buted in May at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Black Knight initiated the IPO at the NYSE at $24.50 per share, a total of $441 million, according to a press release from the company. By the time trading closed at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the price of the stocks had increased by more than 10 percent, up to $27.11 per share, according to the NYSE website. Services offered by Black Knight include selling access to cloud platforms that handle every part of the loan process to a large network of mortgage industry professionals and sell- ing access to mortgage servic- ing platforms to companies that collect mortgage debts and facilitate the foreclosure process. Black Knight, formerly known as Lender Processing Services, was purchased by title insurer Fidelity National Financial, Inc., in 2013 for $2.9 billion. Black Knight lists JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo as two of its largest clients. Among uses for the net pro- ceeds from the IPO will be repay- ing a portion of Black Knight's outstanding debt; the company plans to utilize new senior se- cured credit facilities to refinance the balance of the indebtedness under mirror notes and intercom- pany notes immediately following the IPO, thereby significantly reducing the company's interest expense. Black Knight announced net earnings of $14.5 million for Q1 2015 following a net loss of $107 million for the full year of 2014. Among the lead underwrit- ers for the IPO are JPMorgan Securities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo Securities. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.7 million additional shares at the IPO price, minus underwriting discount and commissions, according to Black Knight. Joint bookrunning managers are Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse Securities (USA), Deutsche Bank Securities, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.