WMIH Corp and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings with its flagship brand Mr. Cooper have announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement.
WMIH Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bill Gallagher, said; “Nationstar aligns perfectly with our acquisition strategy and has a strong track record of providing mortgage servicing and loan and real estate offerings in various market conditions.
“We look forward to working with Nationstar’s talented team to build on the Company’s strong foundation to drive growth, expand the platform and create shareholder value. The combined company is expected to benefit from WMIH’s platform and financial attributes, which are expected to enhance free cash flow available to support business growth and be accretive to shareholders’ equity.”
Nationstar combines mortgage servicing with a fully integrated loan originations platform, supported by its Xome business, which provides services spanning the real estate and mortgage markets.
WMIH is a publicly-traded company focused on identifying and consummating an accretive acquisition transaction across a broad array of industries, with a primary focus on the financial institutions sector.
Jay Bray, CEO and Chairman of Nationstar, said; “We expect this merger to create value for our shareholders in both the near and long-term, including immediate accretion on a cash EPS basis and a cash premium for those of our stockholders who elect to receive the cash merger consideration.
“I am passionately committed to continuing and accelerating our growth and investment as a leader in our industry, leveraging our best-in-class integrated servicing and originations platform.
“The Nationstar Board and management team have taken considerable steps to make homeownership simpler and more rewarding for our three million customers and we look forward to identifying additional opportunities to enhance value for the combined company’s shareholders.”
In addition to certain legacy reinsurance assets and non-recourse run-off liabilities, WMIH boasts about $600 million in cash and cash equivalents and federal net operating loss carry forwards of approximately $6 billion that are not subject to any annual use limitation and will not begin to expire until 2032.
WMIH’s shareholders include a number of institutional investors, the largest of which is KKR.
