Intercontinental Exchange to acquire mortgage software provider Ellie Mae

Intercontinental Exchange acquisition of Ellie Mae : US financial market company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has signed a cash cum stock deal worth around $11 billion to acquire Ellie Mae, a cloud-based mortgage software provider, from private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo.

Based in California, Ellie Mae was established in 1997 with a goal to automate and digitize the residential mortgage industry. Its digital lending platform, enables the company to offer technology services to all those taking part in the mortgage supply chain, which includes its 3,000 plus customers and thousands of partners and investors on their open network who provide liquidity to the market.

Lenders are said to depend on Ellie Mae to handle and facilitate the exchange of data securely across the ecosystem to enable the origination of mortgages while ensuring strict adherence to the compliance requirements of various local, state, and federal bodies.

The acquisition of Ellie Mae is said to bolster Intercontinental Exchange’s focus on mortgage services. Intercontinental Exchange is an operator of exchanges and clearing houses across the world besides being a provider of mortgage technology, data, and listing services.

Commenting on Intercontinental Exchange acquisition of Ellie Mae, Jeffrey C. Sprecher – Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, said: “Twenty years after we founded Intercontinental Exchange to provide a transparent trading platform for the energy industry, and following two decades of providing continued innovation to help customers navigate global markets, we are pleased to announce the acquisition of Ellie Mae, which will help us similarly transform the mortgage marketplace.

“Our planned acquisition represents a one-of-a-kind opportunity to add an extraordinary enterprise with great leadership to our family. It will also enhance ICE’s growth strategy in mortgage technology, with complementary products and a wide array of customers and stakeholders who will benefit from our core and proven expertise in operating networks and marketplaces.”

The financial market company said that the latest deal follows its 100% acquisition of Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, which was completed in late 2018, and the acquisition of acquiring e-recording network Simplifile in 2019. The three deals are said to establish Intercontinental Exchange, through its expanding mortgage services network, as a major provider of end-to-end electronic workflow solutions catering to the evolving residential mortgage industry in the US.

Apart from its capabilities through its digital lending platform and its extensive partner network, Ellie Mae offers technology solutions for enabling clients to reach greater levels of consumer engagement, efficiencies via automation, and in modernizing the loan manufacturing process courtesy of its recent implementation of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Jonathan Corr – President and CEO of Ellie Mae, commenting on Intercontinental Exchange acquisition of Ellie Mae, said: “We are excited to be joining the Intercontinental Exchange family and having the opportunity to work closely with Simplifile and MERS in helping our industry to realize the true digital mortgage.

“We have been on a journey, as we have long said, ‘to automate everything automatable’ for the mortgage industry, and joining ICE, which has followed a parallel journey in global exchanges, will allow us to further accelerate realizing our vision. We also greatly appreciate, and have significantly benefited from, the operational and strategic support from Thoma Bravo. They were instrumental in helping us achieve this outcome, which is a great one for our customers and the industry in general.”

The closing of Intercontinental Exchange acquisition of Ellie Mae is likely to close in Q3 2020 or early Q4 2020, should it secure regulatory approvals and meet customary closing conditions.