Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Michigan-based Rock Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ROFC), a leading provider of online consumer mortgages through RockLoans.com. Under the terms of the agreement, which was announced on Oct. 7, 1999, Intuit has issued approximately 8.6 million shares of stock to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Rock. Intuit also will assume all Rock options.
The combination of QuickenMortgage and Rock Financial creates the leading provider of home loans on the Internet, offering mortgages in all 50 states and providing the greatest breadth and depth of mortgage options. Together, the two companies originated nearly $3.5 billion in mortgage loans over the past 12 months.
"The acquisition of Rock underscores Intuit's commitment to lead and define e-finance," said Bill Campbell, Intuit's chairman and acting CEO. "With Rock, Intuit now is able to manage and innovate across the entire mortgage process - from evaluation and application through approval and closing - which means we can offer our consumers the best and most seamless experience. At the same time, the end-to-end service model enables us to increase our revenue per loan."
Intuit's acquisition of Rock was approved by Rock shareholders on Dec. 8. Daniel Gilbert, who served as Rock's chairman and CEO, will be CEO of Intuit's mortgage subsidiary, which operates under the QuickenMortgage, RockLoans.com and Rock Financial names. The management team and staff of both QuickenMortgage and Rock Financial will be part of the mortgage subsidiary. The mortgage business will be handled by a new state-of-the-art 50,000 square foot call/web center in Michigan that accommodates more than 400 mortgage specialists, which Rock opened earlier this month.
"QuickenMortgage is now the online mortgage leader, offering mortgages in all 50 states and providing the greatest depth and breadth of mortgage options," said Gilbert. "Consumers will benefit from our years of mortgage experience, our total commitment to customers and our innovative range of features, which will include real-time credit checks, instant pre-approvals, around-the-clock loan status updates and the ability to review and print out loan documents directly from the Web site."
Through this acquisition, Intuit will now be able to respond to financial institutions' desire to buy completed loans. Intuit also will be able to provide financial institutions with the technology and tools to deliver innovative online mortgage solutions on their Web sites, as many institutions have requested.
In a related transaction, Intuit also completed its acquisition of Title Source, Inc. for approximately 150,000 shares of Intuit stock. Title Source provides title insurance and escrow services to real estate agents, lenders, attorneys, corporations and homeowners.
