Bermuda-based holding company Essent Group Ltd. entered into an agreement through its subsidiary Essent US Holdings, Inc. to acquire Agents National Title Holding Co. and Boston National Holdings LLC from Incenter LLC, a subsidiary of Finance of America Companies Inc., for $100 million.
“Title insurance is a natural complement to our (management information) business with relatively low and stable loss ratios historically,” Mark Casale, chairman and CEO of Essent, said in a release. “The acquisitions of Agents National Title and Boston National Title add a team of seasoned title professionals to Essent and provide a platform to leverage our capital position, lender network and operational expertise across an adjacent real estate sector as we continue to expand our franchise.”
“FOA’s strategic direction and long-term growth initiatives are centered on providing an innovative suite of solutions to help Americans achieve their retirement goals through the use of their home equity,” Finance of America interim CEO Graham Fleming said. “This transformation has included the decision to discontinue the operations of our forward mortgage originations segment and expand on this vision through our announcement to acquire the assets of AAG. Today’s transaction is part of our continued execution of this strategy which is supported by some of the industry’s most powerful macro themes.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
David Townsend is president and CEO of Agents National Title, based in Missouri. The title insurance underwriter has 44 state licenses and issues title insurance products through a network of agents.
Nathan Bossers is president of Boston National Title, an independent title agency based in North Carolina that provides title and settlement services and has licenses in 40 states and the District of Columbia.
Essent Group Ltd., collectively with its subsidiaries, offers private mortgage insurance for single-family mortgage loans in the United States. Essent provides private capital to mitigate mortgage credit risk, allowing lenders to make additional mortgage financing available to prospective homeowners.
Headquartered in Radnor, Pa., Essent Guaranty, Inc. is licensed to write mortgage insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and is approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to Essent. Credit Suisse Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Finance of America.
Incenter completed its acquisition of Agents National Title in early 2018, just over one year after the company bought Boston National Holdings in late 2016.