Mercury Network, a leading valuation vendor management platform for the mortgage lending industry, was acquired by San Francisco-based private equity firm Serent Capital. The companies announced the acquisition in a May 7 joint release.
Prior to the acquisition, Mercury Network was a subsidiary of a la mode Inc., a technology provider for the financial services industry.
Mercury Network’s SaaS platform is used by mortgage lenders and appraisal management companies to manage compliance and workflow for more than 20,000 appraisal transactions a day.
The company’s solutions include: Mercury Network for appraisal vendor management; Enterprise Vendor Framework (EVF) for lender management of multiple AMCs; AQM for quality assurance and compliance; Mercury Mobile for efficient vendor communications; DataCourier for compliant appraisal receipt and delivery; and SureReceipts for compliant delivery of eDisclosures to borrowers.
To support the growing client base, Mercury has expanded its team of industry veterans strategically located in major financial centers across the U.S.
“Our work so far, combined with our new partnership with Serent Capital, positions us to be the premier player in the vendor management and collateral risk market,” Mercury Network President Jennifer Miller said. “As we build upon our award-winning product design and strategic partnerships, we’ll continue to expand our set of SaaS solutions and provide even better compliance, reporting and business intelligence for our 600-plus clients.”
Dave Biggers, founder and chairman of a la mode, expressed enthusiasm about the transaction and the future for both companies.
“We conceived, built, incubated and eventually spun off Mercury Network entirely inside a la mode with one clear purpose — to protect appraisers from the income-robbing effects of the HVCC and its aftermath by providing lenders with a compelling alternative to the draconian and ultimately ineffective vendor management models in vogue at the time,” Biggers said. “We succeeded wildly in that effort, and the industry is better for it. As we now pass that torch to Mercury’s staff and to Serent, we’re confident they’ll continue to push Mercury even further. We’re very excited about their future, and of course ours as well, as we’re now able to deploy new resources and focus even more specifically on the appraiser’s side of the lending transaction.”
Serent Capital plans to further enhance the value Mercury Network delivers to the mortgage industry by bringing additional resources to support technology innovations for clients and partners.
“Mercury Network’s success and impressive track record of growth is the result of the work of the team, which is among the finest we have met in the mortgage technology industry. We look forward to working with them to expand their services and help deliver unmatched value to customers,” said Lance Fenton, partner at Serent Capital.