Wingspan Continues to Grow with Dimont & Associates Acquisition

It’s been a busy year for special mortgage servicer Wingspan Portfolio Advisors and the positive news continued today with the acquisition of hazard insurance claims management company Dimont & Associates.

Pricing details of the transaction were not available to National Mortgage News.

With this acquisition, Wingspan expands the size of its company to approximately 2,000 employees. Steven Horne, CEO and president for Dallas-based Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, said in an interview earlier this year that he expects this number to jump to 3,000 by the end of 2013.

Earlier this year, the special servicer obtained JPMorgan Chase’s mortgage servicing operation in Melbourne, Fla. Horne told NMN that this site is JPMorgan’s top producing location in terms of product quality for loan modifications and customer assistance.

Under terms of the Dimont & Associates agreement, the Dallas-based hazard insurance claims firm will retain its name and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Wingspan Portfolio Holdings. Also, founder and chief executive officer Bernie Dimont will continue to lead the Dallas-based company.

“Dimont & Associates has built great brand recognition by serving mortgage holders’ insurance claims needs with superb skill since 1996,” Horne stated in a press release. “We are excited about the many synergies between our two companies, as well as the unique ways in which Dimont and Wingspan will complement each other to bring an array of services to our clients.”

Dimont & Associates specializes in filing and negotiating insurance claims for lenders, servicers, investors and the government-sponsored enterprises. Company professionals maintain in excess of 1,300 state licenses in 46 regulatory jurisdictions.

“Our guiding principle over the past 17 years has been to maximize value for clients in the insurance they have paid for,” Dimont said. “Our new relationship with Wingspan Portfolio Advisors represents the best of both worlds.”

Horne does not anticipate many changes to occur for Dimont & Associates, but expects the new partnership to enhance both companies.

“Wingspan clients will benefit from the collaboration from the collaboration of two effective industry leaders under a single, unified banner,” he added. “That’s a winning combination.”

Besides its headquarters, Wingspan will now have offices in the Texas cities of Frisco and Carrollton as well as Melbourne, along with Dimont & Associates’ offices in Dallas and San Diego.

Financing for the transaction was provided by BMO Harris Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank and THL Corporate Finance.

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