IBM Completes Acquisition of Mortgage Servicing Assets of Wilshire
March 1, 2010
IBM Monday said it finalized its previously announced plans to acquire the primary operating assets of Wilshire Credit Corporation from Bank of America.
The assets, which include Wilshire’s mortgage servicing technology, will become part of IBM’s mortgage service subsidiary. IBM also will hire roughly 900 employees from Wilshire.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal was originally announced in October.
"The acquisition of Wilshire's assets further demonstrates IBM's commitment to delivering robust and innovative mortgage solutions during a difficult time for the mortgage industry," said Eric Ray, general manager for the Financial Services Sector of IBM Global Technology Services, at the time.
Bank of America acquired Wilshire Capital at the end of 2008, with its $50 billion purchase of Merrill Lynch. Merrill had acquired the loan servicer for $52 million in 2004.
Wilshire was founded by a controversial entrepreneur, Andrew Wiederhorn, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to two felonies and drew an 18-month prison term.
He also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. And an investment firm that lent money to Wilshire, Capital Consultants, collapsed later.
