United Wholesale Mortgage said on Wednesday it plans to go public by merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Gores Holdings IV Inc GHIV.O in a deal that will value the wholesale mortgage lender at $16.1 billion.
Under the agreement, United Wholesale will retain about 94% ownership of the combined company and will get about $425 million in cash held in Gores’ trust account along with $500 million from a private placement.
Once the deal is completed, the combined company will be listed on Nasdaq and named UWM Corp., the Michigan-based company said, adding that the deal would make UWM the largest special purpose acquisition company transaction so far.
According to the
Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles-based Gores Group, founded in 1987 by Alec Gores. It is a so-called "blank-check company" that raises money through public markets to buy or merge with other businesses. This blank-check company, Gores Holdings IV, went public in January on the Nasdaq in an initial public offering that raised $425 million.
United Wholesale’s current CEO Mat Ishbia will continue to lead the business with the existing management team.
“Becoming a public company will enable us to advance our strategy and capitalize on new opportunities to expand our already established leadership in the mortgage industry under our unique family culture, which has been the cornerstone of our company's success for the last 34 years,” said Ishbia in the announcement. “To that end, we look forward to granting our team members equity in the Company that they have helped build and enabling them to participate in our future success."
