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IndyMac acquires Financial Freedom, releases 2Q profitsMortgagePress.comIndyMac,Financial Freedom,Merger,Aquisition IndyMac Bancorp Inc. has acquired Financial Freedom Holdings Inc., a company specializing in reverse mortgagesdesigned to allow homeowners age 62 and older convert home equity into cash. "With the maturing of the baby boom generation and the appreciation of home prices, the reverse mortgage market has the potential for very healthy growth in the years to come," said Michael W. Perry, IndyMac's chair and chief executive officer. Reverse mortgages offered by IndyMac feature no recourse to the borrower, no repayment during the borrower's occupancy of the home and a repayment amount that cannot exceed the value of the home (after costs of sale). Equity may be withdrawn in a lump sum, as annuity-style monthly payments, as a credit line or any combination thereof. The acquisition of Financial Freedom is expected to be a few cents dilutive to IndyMac's earnings in the third quarter due to purchase accounting issues, and accretive thereafter. IndyMac has also reported record pro forma earnings of $54.6 million for the second quarter of 2004. These amounts exclude the one-time deferral of $31.6 million of net income, or $0.52 per share, related to the change in accounting for rate locks. The pro forma net earnings were up 34 percent from a year earlier. IndyMac's mortgage loan production totaled a record $9.4 billion of loans in the second quarter, up 18 percent from that of a year earlier. For more information, visit www.indymacbank.com.