Midland States Bancorp Sells Commercial FHA Origination Platform

Midland States Bancorp, Inc. sold its commercial FHA platform, which operated through its Love Funding subsidiary, to Dwight Capital, a NY-headquartered mortgage banking firm. According to a press release, Midland States Bank will continue to service Love Funding's current servicing portfolio which is approximately $3.9 billion including $284 million in low-cost deposits.

"This transaction reflects our ongoing efforts to evaluate all aspects of our operations for opportunities to enhance efficiencies, increase our focus on the more profitable areas of our business, and improve our overall financial performance," said Jeffrey G. Ludwig, president and CEO of Midland States Bancorp. "The sale of the origination portion of Love Funding’s business will reduce volatility in our earnings stream and provide capital that can be more profitably deployed into other areas of our business. Retaining the servicing portion of our existing portfolio will allow us to maintain the low-cost funding generated by this business and continue earning servicing income while reducing operating expenses."

"We expect a smooth transition of Love’s clients to Dwight. Our loan servicing team, which we will retain, has also played an integral part in Love Funding’s success, as commercial loan servicing is an important part of our goal of having steady, predictable revenue and low-cost deposits," said Jeff Mefford, executive vice president of Dwight Capital, president of Midland States Bank and CEO of Love Funding.