IRVING, Texas & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Finance of America Equity Capital LLC an end-to-end lending and services platform, today announced that its subsidiary, Finance of America Mortgage LLC, has emerged as the winner in a court-supervised sale process to acquire certain of the assets of Renovate America, Inc., including its industry-leading home financing product, Benji®. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close at the end of March.
The closing of the transaction will mark the launch of a new vertical, Finance of America Home Improvement, which strongly complements Finance of America’s diversified consumer lending platform consisting of mortgages, reverse mortgages, and commercial loans offered across distributed retail, third-party brokers and digital direct-to-consumer channels. Finance of America Home Improvement will enable the company to capitalize on the $400 billion1 home renovation industry by offering a proprietary technology platform that helps consumers improve their homes while giving contractors the tools they need to grow their businesses.
“At Finance of America, we have a long track record of acquiring companies and products with businesses and core competencies that complement and bolster our own, and importantly, unlocking synergies as we integrate these onto our platform,” said Patricia Cook, CEO of Finance of America. “This transaction allows us to continue developing and growing Benji, Renovate America’s industry-leading home improvement financing product, and adds another innovative home financing solution to our comprehensive suite of consumer lending products. We look forward to welcoming the Benji team to the Finance of America family.”
In December, FAM entered into an asset purchase agreement with Renovate America in conjunction with a Bankruptcy Court-supervised auction. Renovate America voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a Section 363 sales process on the same day. FAM’s final cash offer of approximately $45 million includes the acquisition of Renovate America’s Benji home improvement loan business, which includes a portfolio of loans originated since the bankruptcy case started and financed through the DIP facility provided by FAM.
Shawn Stone, Renovate America’s CEO, added, “When we decided to embark on this process, we identified Finance of America as the ideal partner for our Benji business. We are very pleased that they have emerged as the winner and look forward to many positive developments for our contractors and employees in the future.”
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is acting as Finance of America’s legal advisor for the transaction.
About Finance of America Companies
Finance of America is a diversified, vertically integrated consumer lending platform. Product offerings include mortgages, reverse mortgages, and loans to residential real estate investors distributed across retail, third party network, and digital channels. In addition, Finance of America offers complementary lending services to enhance the customer experience, as well as capital markets and portfolio management capabilities to optimize distribution to investors. The Company is headquartered in Irving, TX, and is a portfolio company of the leading global asset manager, The Blackstone Group. On October 13, 2020, Finance of America entered into a business combination agreement with Replay Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: RPLA). Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company intends to change its name to Finance of America Companies Inc. and trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “FOA.” www.financeofamerica.com
About Replay Acquisition Corp.
Founded by Edmond Safra, Gregorio Werthein and Gerardo Werthein, Replay Acquisition Corp. is a NYSE-listed blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses on industries that we believe have favorable prospects and a high likelihood of generating strong risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. These industries include consumer, telecommunications and technology, energy, infrastructure, financial services and real estate, among others. www.replayacquisition.com
About Renovate America
Renovate America is one of the nation’s preeminent providers of home improvement financing through its industry-leading home financing product, Benji. The Company offers a proprietary technology platform that helps Americans improve their homes while giving contractors the tools they need to grow their business. In addition to offering intuitive financing options, Renovate America offers industry- leading education, training and mentoring to contractor teams in the field. For more information, visit www.renovateamerica.com.
