Investment from Lovell Minnick to Provide Significant Capital for Strategic Growth and Continued Acquisition Strategy
PHILADELPHIA, LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK – MARCH 17, 2021 — UniversalCIS (the “Company”), a market-leading, technology-enabled provider of credit data and related origination solutions in the mortgage industry, is pleased to announce a significant investment from Lovell Minnick Partners, LLC. Lovell Minnick is a private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, financial technology and related business services. Moving forward, UniversalCIS and Lovell Minnick will work closely to leverage this investment to fuel continued growth of the Company and provide additional capital for future acquisitions.
Headquartered outside of Philadelphia with four additional operations centers across the country, UniversalCIS provides a leading technology platform that offers credit data and origination solutions to over 4,000 clients in the North American mortgage market including banks, non-bank mortgage lenders, credit unions and mortgage brokers. The platform is integrated into approximately 60 loan origination systems and serves as the first interaction point for clients in the loan application process.
The Company rebranded to UniversalCIS in January 2021 following the combination of Universal Credit Services, CIS Credit Solutions and Avantus, three longstanding credit technology and solutions providers to the mortgage originations industry. UniversalCIS also acquired mortgage appraisal technology provider SharperLending to enhance the Company’s software offerings. SharperLending operates as an independent business unit as a wholly owned subsidiary of UniversalCIS.
Perry Steiner, Chairman of UniversalCIS commented “Lovell Minnick has a strong track record of supporting financial technology companies in the mortgage and lending industry as they scale their businesses, making them an ideal partner for us.” Steiner continued “We’re excited to embark on the next chapter of UniversalCIS’ success as we collaborate with Lovell Minnick to continue to broaden and enhance our technology offerings for new clients and markets, and accelerate our acquisition strategy.”
Jerry Haftmann and Bob Dumont, CEO and CFO of UniversalCIS, added, “The UniversalCIS team has always been laser-focused on creating unique, effective technology for the mortgage industry, and this partnership with Lovell Minnick underscores our commitment to continuing to develop best-in-class services for key stakeholders at a greater breadth and depth than ever before.”
Jason Barg, Partner at Lovell Minnick stated, “We are thrilled to partner with UniversalCIS’ management team to further grow and scale its unique offerings.” Barg continued, “The UniversalCIS team has built an incredible company that plays a critical role in the mortgage origination process and provides best-in-class technology and customer service in a seamless, centralized manner. The Company has tremendous growth potential and is well-positioned to benefit from tailwinds driving increased technology adoption and M&A activity in the mortgage market.”
Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and former U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Dalton will continue to serve UniversalCIS, joining the Company’s board of directors. Steve Ozonian, an advisor to Lovell Minnick and industry veteran, will also join the board of directors.
About UniversalCIS
UniversalCIS is a market leader in mortgage technology, credit reporting, and related products and solutions for mortgage originators. UniversalCIS has over 4,000 clients ranging from the largest bank and non-bank mortgage originators to credit unions and mortgage brokers. UniversalCIS prides itself on the best technology, solutions, and service in the industry. UniversalCIS was created through the merger of Universal Credit Services, CIS Credit Solutions, and Avantus. For more information, please visit: UniversalCIS
About Lovell Minnick Partners
Lovell Minnick Partners is a private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, financial technology and related business services. We partner with outstanding management teams to help grow their companies and build value for investors through a combination of driving growth initiatives, strategic activity and operational improvements. Since our inception in 1999, we have become a leader in our chosen space, raising $3.5 billion of committed capital from leading institutional investors including public and private pensions, insurance companies, endowments and foundations. To date, we have completed more than 50 portfolio company investments.
We seek to invest in management-driven, growth-oriented companies that span the supply chains of investment products, insurance products, credit products and payments. Some of the areas in which we specialize include financial and insurance technology; payments; specialty finance; insurance brokerage and services; asset and wealth management; and related business services. For more information, please visit: Lovell Minnick Partners
