The company's branches and loan officers will transition to ML Mortgage but operations staff are not part of the deal.

Consolidation has slowed since the pandemic, but UMB's agreement to buy Heartland Financial — the largest deal in three years — is one of several merger announcements in the past two weeks. Talks among other potential buyers and sellers are said to be picking up.

The Philadelphia-based bank's parent company, Republic First Bancshares, had been roiled by a yearslong proxy battle involving activist investors groups and its former CEO.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., detailed how New York Community Bancorp grew to exceed the $100 billion threshold that triggers tougher regulatory requirements and set the bank on a path to market turmoil via a series of deals that were approved, in part, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Phil DeFronzo, founder of Norcom Mortgage, said the company made the "strategic decision to focus on [its] wholesale channel TPO GO."

Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares said it closed its purchase of Lone Star State Bancshares about a year later than initially planned.

Doma in nearly three years as a public company was never able to achieve profitability and had to scale back CEO Max Simkoff's vast ambitions.

Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.

Industry stakeholders say this was a good deal for Academy, which likely got to keep their book of business, alongside an upfront payment and the opportunity to receive more money in the future.

Combining the two property preservation firms brings specialized technology and capabilities that Five Brothers has to MCS and broadens the operations of both.

But still-elevated interest rates contributed to a "deteriorating outlook" for independent mortgage banks this year, Fitch Ratings said.

Company executives are counting on Guild's recent acquisitions to buoy business once the market normalizes.

Argyle, which helps lenders verify income and employment data, completed a $30 million funding round led by a Rockefeller Capital Management innovation fund, bringing its funding since the firm's formation to more than $100 million.

Rocket shrunk its workforce by about 20% year-over-year, while Academy cut 250 employees prior to being acquired by Guild Mortgage.

Employees transitioned after Premier's parent company, NTFN Inc. shuttered in December.

New American Funding, Lower and FirstSun Capital among purchasers in recent M&A deals within the mortgage space.

The blockbuster merger proposal will be reviewed at a time when the Biden administration is expressing skepticism about consolidation. Its analysis will have to account for markets dominated by both big banks and the likes of Visa and Mastercard.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, company has agreed to sell its remaining 80% stake in its insurance brokerage unit to raise billions of dollars in cash and extra capital. The "wild card" is how Truist will deploy them, one analyst says.

Conversations around a potential sale started at the end of 2023 and the deal will close at the end of the first quarter, according to the Guild Mortgage executive.

The transaction will make Guild the eighth largest non-bank lender in the country, the company said in its press release Tuesday.