Aug 7, 2020 - Economy

Intercontinental Exchange to buy mortgage software provider Ellie Mae

Dan Primack

illustration of money made out of houses — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Intercontinental Exchange agreed to buy Ellie Mae, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of mortgage finance software, from Thoma Bravo for $11 billion.

Why it matters: This is the largest acquisition ever for Intercontinental Exchange, as it only spent $8.2 billion to buy the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. It also pushes ICE much further into the mortgage finance market, following smaller deals for MERS (2016) and Simplifile (2019).

This is a quick and lucrative flip for Thoma Bravo, which last year took Ellie Mae private for $3.75 billion.
The $11 billion enterprise value is mostly debt. ICE will finance the deal via cash and stock, at an 84%/16% split, with expectations that it closes by year-end.

The bottom line: "Acquiring Ellie Mae would put ICE closer to the origination of home loans, expanding its reach to the mortgage lenders, brokers and other players that come together before a loan is closed. ICE’s current mortgage business is more focused on warehousing and processing data on home loans after they close," writes the Wall Street Journal.

Add Axios on Google

Intercontinental Exchange to buy mortgage software provider Ellie Mae

What to read next