Better hits reset with bank sale, stock offering and cost cuts
Digital mortgage lender boosted Q2 loan production by 45% and says it's on track to originate more than $1B in mortgages in Q3 for the first time in 2 years, but losses continue to mount
The lender boosted mortgage volume 25% from Q4 but suffered a $51M loss, according to Q1 earnings data on Tuesday. CEO Vishal Garg said Better's future 'lies in Uberizing the loan officer'
Former operations head Sarah Pierce, who had accused Better CEO Vishal Garg of providing misleading information to investors in leadup to SPAC, faced $2.76M judgment in countersuit
With new clients including USA Mortgage and New American Funding, Matic says it's doing business with more than 100 lenders and servicers that together process 20% of U.S. home loans
As Better reports $543M 2023 net loss, CEO Vishal Garg says the company has made fundamental changes to its business model that will help it pivot to serving homebuyers
A $565M influx of cash from an August SPAC merger and a $1B reduction in annual expenses puts Better on a footing to navigate a challenging market, executives say on first earnings call
Better, which has had a strategic partnership with Ally Bank since 2019, is looking to partner with more lenders by launching a white-labeled 'mortgage-as-a-service' platform with Infosys
Available in Arizona, Oregon and Illinois at launch, Better Insurance will expand into Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin in the next 4 weeks. The goal is to be in all 50 states in a year
The mortgage lender said $100M in retention bonuses were distributed to employees in April, as promised, including $50M from Better co-founder and CEO Vishal Garg's personal equity
Better's market share has shrunk by more than 70% in the last year as it focuses on making more profitable loans, with partners like Ally Bank and American Express generating 42% of business
In addition to going public at a bad time for mortgage lenders, Barron's reports that SPAC merger resulted in a huge increase in the number of shares outstanding
Following 2 years of challenges, Better will go public Thursday with $565M in new funding and plans to 'aggressively' partner with agents as it builds its mortgage production team
Shareholders on Friday overwhelmingly approved a plan to merge mortgage lender Better HoldCo with the Aurora Acquisition Corporation. The deal is expected to close before the end of August