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Digital title and closing provider Doma continues to sell titles nationwide as part of a change in strategy, this time relocating retail title stores and operations centers in five states to buyers Capital Title of Texas LLC and Near North Title Group.
The sale of Doma’s local retail and title operations in Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, announced Wednesday, follows an agreement announced in May in which Sold at home 22 retail locations and operations centers in California for Williston Financial Group (WFG) for up to $24.5 million, subject to earnings.
Terms of the sale to Capital Title of Texas and Near North Title Group were not disclosed.
Max Simkoff
“These strategic transactions are consistent with our future mission-driven strategy and refined focus on our core underwriting and technology business,” Doma founder and CEO Max Simkoff said in a statement. “Our Texas and Midwest operations have a long history of providing excellent customer service.
“We believe we have found optimal homes for our local team members in the locations we have sold. I want to thank these teams for their hard work and dedication to Dom and our vision over the years.”
Doma has developed a machine learning platform, Doma Intelligence, and other technology that automates title and escrow processes and provides “instant underwriting” of title insurance for lenders refinancing existing mortgages.
In an interview with investment analysts in May, Simkoff said Doma has underwritten more than 85,000 loans for many of the nation’s largest national mortgage lenders, with 80 percent of those orders approved immediately.
“Our world-class team of machine learning experts achieved this result by training our models on more than 20 years of risk data through hundreds of thousands of past policies,” Simkoff said at the time.
But adapting this technology for buying mortgages has been challenging. Rising mortgage interest rates last year limited refinancing for Doma clients, prompting the company to cut 52 percent of its workforce, cutting 1,076 jobs and ending the year with 1,062 employees.
“Doma’s forward strategy is focused on leveraging the power and benefits of its instant underwriting technology through the efficient and profitable distribution of its core technology by external partners with the ultimate goal of reducing homeowner-specific refinancing costs,” the company said Wednesday.
Texas Major Titlewhich is buying the retail and title operations of Doma in Texas, claims to be the largest independent title company in the U.S. and is a member Bill Shaddock’s family of companies.
Other companies under The Shaddock Companies umbrella include the underwriter First National Title Insurance Co. and Shaddock National Holdingswhich acquires independent title companies throughout the United States.
“We have successfully partnered with dozens of local title companies to facilitate their exit or expansion strategies,” Shaddock National Holdings field views on its website targeting owners who do not want to sell to private equity firms, investment clubs or any of the big four title insurance underwriters (Fidelity, First American, Old Republic and Stewart).
Near North Title Group, which is acquiring Doma’s Midwest retail operations in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, is an integrated title, third-party escrow, construction escrow and 1031 exchange company that claims to broker more than $10 billion in residential and commercial transactions through nearly 60 locations.
“Near North continues to expand its market presence through acquisitions and organic growth as it provides customized solutions to its clients, leveraging years of industry experience and underwriter relationships that allow for maximum flexibility in facilitating even the most complex real estate transactions,” the company said in announcing the Doma deal.
Since its launch in 2017, Doma has posted a cumulative deficit of $536.9 million through March 31, including a first-quarter loss of $42.1 million. After raising less than expected when it went public va 2021 merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Doma faced the prospect of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the company’s share price fell below the $1 minimum last summer.
Executed at home and 1 for 25 reverse stock split June 30 to avoid removal. For a new split price, Doma shares traded as low as $4.25 and as high as $26.10 over the past year, closing at $7.81 on Wednesday.
However, on July 11, the New York Stock Exchange notified Doma that it was suspending trading in the company’s warrants due to “abnormally low” levels of trading prices and was beginning proceedings to delist the warrants.
IN regulatory filingDoma said trading in the company’s common stock was not affected and that it did not intend to appeal the New York Stock Exchange’s decision to delist warrants that can be exchanged for common stock.
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