Quicken Loans becomes leading Michigan-based Business-to-Consumer Internet company; All 1,100 employees will remain in Michigan
Livonia, Mich. – Aug. 01, 2002 – Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Quicken Loans® and Rock Financial, today announced that he and a small group of local investors have completed the purchase of the Quicken Loans/Rock Financial mortgage subsidiary from Intuit Inc. Gilbert founded Rock Financial in 1985. Rock Financial grew into one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country and in May 1998, Gilbert took the company public. The company launched Rockloans.com in January 1999, and quickly became one of the fastest-growing direct mortgage lenders on the Internet. In December 1999, Intuit purchased Rock Financial, renaming the company Quicken Loans Inc.
During the past two years Quicken Loans has grown more than 360 percent. The company is now the nation’s largest online lender via its www.quickenloans.com web site and the 23rd largest retail mortgage lender in the country from among some 35,000 lending entities. Quicken Loans will continue to offer residential home mortgages and home equity loans under the Quicken Loans and Rock Financial brands. The company, which has 1,100 employees, including sister company Title Source, will continue to be based in Livonia, making it the leading Michigan-based business-to-consumer Internet company.
Intuit will retain a 12.5 percent equity interest. Quicken Loans will retain the right to use the powerful Quicken Loans brand name and the Quickenloans.com web site. Quicken Loans will continue to be the exclusive mortgage content provider for Yahoo! Real Estate, Homestore.com, Realtor.com, CitySearch.com, and other key portals and sites. Intuit will continue to offer Quicken Loans products and services on Quicken.com and through its market leading Quicken® and TurboTax® software, and will not enter into new marketing deals with other mortgage lenders.
A Leader in Direct-to-Consumer Home Loans
“The Quicken Loans leadership team is thrilled about the opportunity to take this company to the next level, “said Gilbert. “In the last two years we’ve achieved 360 percent growth and sustained record-breaking revenues and profits. This is the best team of mortgage professionals in the business. We have a strong brand name, industry leading technology and innovative home loans, and we will continue to grow this company by focusing on unsurpassed customer experience.”
Gilbert will continue to serve as Chairman, Bill Emerson as Chief Executive Officer and Patrick McInnis as President. Jeff Eisenshtadt will continue to serve as CEO and President of Title Source (also part of this transaction), which provides title insurance and settlement services nationally. “This transaction allows us to be independent and entrepreneurial, while keeping in place the many benefits of being associated with the Quicken brand, as well as access to millions of Quicken, Turbo Tax and QuickBooks® customers,” said Bill Emerson, Quicken Loans CEO. “We have increased our market penetration dramatically the last four quarters. In addition to our online growth, our Rock Financial mega-branches in southeast Michigan are the highest producing mortgage branches in the nation.”
“We are positioned for strong growth over the next 12 to 24 months and we will remain focused on doing the things it takes to maintain our growth. We currently are hiring at least 100 new loan officers for the web and branches, generating more leads and executing on technology. We will continue to increase our market penetration by being focused on executing better than any mortgage lender in the country.”
Emerson added that the QuickenLoans.com site was named Forbes Magazine’s “Forbes Favorite” online mortgage site and a “Best of the Web” mortgage site by Money and PC Magazines.
Terms of Agreement
Intuit estimates that it will book a pre-tax gain of approximately $25-$30 Million on the sale, consisting of a $23.3 Million note and a 12.5 percent stake in the new company in exchange for all of the outstanding stock of Intuit’s Quicken Loans Inc. and Title Source Inc. subsidiaries. Valuations for mortgage origination companies are typically based on net book value and the gain represents a premium over the net book value. In addition, the new company will license from Intuit use of the Quicken Loans trademark for its residential home loan and home equity loan products and pay an annual license fee. The two parties have also entered into a five-year distribution agreement through which Quicken Loans will provide mortgage services on Quicken.com. Intuit has also agreed to continue providing a line of credit to fund mortgage loans for a transition period of up to six months after the transaction closes and will earn market interest rates on the line of credit. Such funding is customary in the mortgage origination market.
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