Brings Solidifi’s proven technology and innovative approach to large and growing market
Buffalo, NY; Middletown, RI (April 1, 2016) – Solidifi, a leading independent provider of real estate valuation services to 60 of the top 100 lenders, today announced the acquisition of Linear Title & Closing Limited (“Linear”) for up to US$96 million subject to certain performance metrics, bringing Solidifi’s established next-generation real estate technology platform to the $10 billion title and closing market.
Rhode Island based Linear is a top-five independent title search and closing provider for refinance, purchase, short sale and REO transactions in all 50 states. Adding these services to Solidifi’s existing market leading position in property valuations gives the company a more complete suite of services and expands its market share, leveraging the company’s next generation network management technology platform.
“We are extremely pleased to announce this acquisition, which will enable Solidifi to bring our demonstrated excellence in using technology to improve the customer and field professional experience to the large and growing title and closing market,” said Jason Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Solidifi. “Linear represents a great fit with our existing business and we look forward to working with them to bring the innovation Solidifi is known for to mortgage closings.”
Based in Buffalo, New York, Solidifi is one of the largest providers of mortgage valuations in America. Completing one in ten appraisals nationwide, and with an investment of more than $35 million to date in its proprietary software platform, the company has grown its market share approximately 50% each year.
“The management team of Linear has long been seeking like-minded partners focused on building scalable software services for the mortgage closing space,” added Nick Liuzza, Chief Executive Officer of Linear. “Linear has a tradition of developing services for its clients that improve operating profitability and enhance customer outcomes. We could not be more excited to collaborate on these initiatives with Solidifi, which will benefit our clients, our field professionals, the industry and Linear’s partners.
With the acquisition of Linear, Solidifi manages a marketplace of more than 100,000 independent, qualified appraisers, abstractors, notaries, attorneys, brokers and real estate professionals that collect and assess key attributes of individual properties. Solidifi’s technology platform enables the company to grade and manage field professionals in real time, selecting the right professional for each transaction and providing our clients with materially faster, higher quality, and compliant products.
The technology platform ensures the right professional is assigned to each transaction the first time, enhancing productivity and loyalty, reducing manual intervention, while enabling Solidifi to operate on a dramatically lower cost structure than traditional service providers.
“Solidifi’s industry leading technology and network management expertise will bring an unparalleled level of innovation and customer service to the title and closing market, just as Solidifi has done in the appraisal market,” said Kevin Walton, Solidifi’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. “This is an incredible opportunity to better serve our clients by using our technology to improve the experience in what has been historically one of the most challenging aspects of completing a mortgage loan.”
The acquisition of Linear is Solidifi’s third since 2013, following on the purchases of Kirchmeyer & Associates and Southwest Financial Services Ltd. Linear’s offices will remain in Middletown, RI. The transaction brings Solidifi’s total employee count to more than 700. Solidifi’s parent, Real Matters Inc., concurrently raised $100 million through a private placement of common equity to fund the acquisition.
About Linear: Linear Title & Closing is a leader in providing national title searches and mortgage closing services. Linear delivers technology-driven title and closing solutions to a broad spectrum of real estate service providers. Linear is based in Middletown, RI and services clients nationwide. The company’s core focus is to provide industry-leading service and to develop cutting edge solutions for the title and mortgage closing industry.
