(Bloomberg)—Western Alliance Bancorporation is buying the mortgage company AmeriHome for about $1 billion in cash, as the pandemic housing boom in the U.S. fuels industry consolidation.
Western Alliance has reached an agreement to purchase Aris Mortgage Holding Company, the parent company of California-based AmeriHome, according to a statement on Tuesday.
AmeriHome, which counts an affiliate of Apollo Global Management as its controlling shareholder, confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public in August.
It announced plans to sell 14.7 million shares for $16 to $18 apiece, which would have raised as much as $265 million. That plan was subsequently delayed amid turbulence in mortgage and equity markets.
The deal with Western Alliance comes after the mortgage industry posted a banner year, boosted by historically low mortgage rates that have fueled demand for homes and refinancing.
The surge in business has prompted almost a dozen lenders to either go public or make plans to do so. The mortgage boom and housing rally come even amid job losses and an economy that remains on shaky ground from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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