Sallie Buys Another Mortgage Company

SLM Corp., Reston, Va., commonly known as Sallie Mae, has announced the acquisition of Pioneer Mortgage, Novi, Mich., for an undisclosed price.Sallie Mae, which provides federally guaranteed student loans, said Pioneer will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary and will expand the fee-based mortgage banking services provided by its SLM Financial Corp. subsidiary. SLM Financial was created in 1999 to provide career training loans to students in technical or specialized training programs and to originate mortgage and consumer loans for home purchases and other major expenditures, Sallie Mae said. Last December, Sallie Mae announced the purchase of First Trust Financial, a mortgage banking company with operations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Pioneer, founded in 1992, provides mortgage banking services in Michigan and Arizona. Sallie Mae can be found on the Web at http://www.salliemae.com.