Guild Mortgage acquires Academy Mortgage

Guild Mortgage bought Utah-based Academy Mortgage, continuing its acquisition streak that ramped up in late 2022.

The terms of the acquisition haven't been made publicly available.  Guild's CEO Terry Schmidt said the two companies have "aligned core values [to] attract employees dedicated to serving their communities and delivering on the promise of homeownership."

"This transaction represents two like-minded organizations joining forces to continue to grow stronger together," she said in a written statement Tuesday. "Each acquisition we've completed has brought new talent to Guild, making us a better company. We're excited to extend a warm welcome to our new Academy teammates and build on their talent with the support of Guild behind them."

The addition of Academy will make Guild the eighth largest non-bank lender in the country and will add 25% more origination volume to the lender's books, the company claims in a press release.

Academy Mortgage did not respond to a request for comment.

One industry stakeholder said that following a $38.5 million settlement with the Department of Justice over False Claims Act violations in December 2022, Academy Mortgage has been struggling to stay afloat. It sold its servicing to cover the DOJ settlement costs, but its business, just like many others, has been pummeled by low origination volume.

Academy is also currently facing class action lawsuits over allegations that it failed to keep customer personal identifiable information safe during a data breach last year.

The lender, founded in 1988, offers a large suite of residential loans, counts 220 branches nationwide and a little over 800 sponsored mortgage loan originators, according to Nationwide Multistate Licensing System records. Data from S&P Global shows Academy originated $3.8 billion in loan volume in 2023 through September.

For Guild, this is at least the fifth major acquisition since the end of 2022. Company executives have hinted that their appetite to further expand Guild's footprint remains strong.

"Our pipeline is still very strong," said Guild's CEO Terry Schmidt during the company's third quarter conference call. "It seemed like things slowed down a little bit in the summer months, but it's picking up again, so we do anticipate that we'll still be in the market to do additional acquisitions going forward…outside of acquisitions we're always focused on organically growing as well and bringing in originators."

Guild's net income doubled in the third quarter, growing to $54.2 million from $36.9 million in the second quarter. Its gain on sale margin on originations in the third quarter of 2023 was 377 basis points, a 22% increase from the second quarter, while the mortgage shops total in-house originations pulled back to $4.3 billion, down from $4.5 billion worth of volume in the previous quarter.

According to NMLS, Guild currently has 2,247 sponsored loan officers. The acquisition of Academy Mortgage will push LO headcount over the 3,000 mark.