[1]MeridianLink, Inc. [2] today announced it has completed the acquisition of OpenClose [3], enabling customers to deliver seamless digital lending experiences to consumers, while reducing costs and time to close. The deal will also support the continued market expansion of MeridianLink’s full system capabilities serving depository organizations.
MeridianLink is committed to ongoing innovation and will continue its investment in both the OpenClose (LenderAssist) and MeridianLink Mortgage (formerly known as LendingQB) LOS solutions, giving customers more choices for award-winning digital lending offerings. The OpenClose and MeridianLink Mortgage workflow-driven solutions offer market-leading digital loan origination systems (LOS), point-of-sale (POS), product and pricing engine (PPE), and business intelligence (BI) functions, with easy access from any browser or mobile device.
“We are thrilled to welcome the OpenClose team to MeridianLink. Combining the strengths of our organizations is great for the industry as we further enable our customers to deliver fast, frictionless mortgage lending experiences, from application through closing,” said Nicolaas Vlok, CEO of MeridianLink. “This acquisition ensures that all customers can be confident that they have a comprehensive, premier mortgage solution in whichever offering they choose and that we will continue to invest in both offerings as we evolve the products to incorporate the best capabilities of each.”
As part of the integration, MeridianLink Mortgage customers will be able to access the OpenClose point-of-sale (POS) system, Consumer Assist, providing a superior experience for borrowers. In addition, OpenClose LenderAssist customers will be able to leverage the MeridianLink PriceMyLoan product and pricing engine (PPE), offering richer pricing options and features like parallel mortgage insurance pricing, an integrated fee engine, and loan comparison reports.
Founded in 1999, OpenClose pioneered a SaaS-based lending automation software platform for the mortgage industry. Today, the company's comprehensive loan origination software helps customers cut the cost to manufacture loans while reducing processing and underwriting cycle times. For these reasons and more, OpenClose has experienced strong year-over-year growth as financial institutions invest in mortgage technology.
The acquisition comes after MeridianLink's Q3 2022 results released in October [4], showing a strong Q3 performance of MeridianLink's diverse portfolio.
"With digital lending driving our growth as more organizations take advantage of our MeridianLink One platform to better serve their consumers and communities," said Nicolaas Vlok, CEO of MeridianLink. "GAAP revenue grew 7% year-over-year to $71.8 million with 36% adjusted EBITDA margins. Lending software solutions revenue grew 17% year-over-year to $52.4 million."
Quarterly Financial Highlights:
- Revenue of $71.8 million, an increase of 7% year-over-year
- Operating income of $4.5 million, or 6% of revenue and Non-GAAP operating profit of $12.1 million, or 17% of revenue
- Adjusted EBITDA of $25.9 million, or 36% of revenue and a net loss of $(2.9) million
- Cash flow from operations of $88.1 million and free cash flow of $79.4 million for the last twelve month period
Business and Operating Highlights from Q3:
-
- With focus on supporting depository institutions, this acquisition is expected to create a premier platform that will solidify MeridianLink's position [4] in the market by providing more advanced, more open, and more customer-friendly capabilities.
- A full quarter ahead of schedule, MeridianLink completed the migration of the MeridianLink One [5] functionality to the public cloud. As a result, MeridianLink have already begun to see the benefits of increased security, speed, and scalability of deployment.
- MeridianLink also achieved both faster software module delivery to customers and increased uptake of the functions to more deeply automate lending processes.
“Since our founding, customers have validated our company’s capabilities by choosing our SaaS solutions time and time again. Now, after record growth over the last several years, we’re excited to reach more customers faster while still providing the best-in-class technology, team, and customer service to which our customers have become accustomed,” said JP Kelly, President of OpenClose. “I am confident that our innovative, talented, and dedicated team along with our industry-leading technology will thrive even further as part of MeridianLink.”
To read the full announcement, click here [3].