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In a massive deal between two of the biggest names in the mortgage business, Rocket Companies is set to acquire Mr. Cooper Group Inc. in an all-stock deal for $9.4 billion in equity, the companies announced on Monday.
Rocket is one of the largest lenders in the U.S. (the second by originations, according to the latest data available from 2023) and Mr. Cooper is the largest mortgage servicer in the country. The move comes just a few weeks after Rocket announced that it would be acquiring Redfin for $1.75 billion in equity.
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The combined company will service more than $2.1 trillion in loan volume across about 10 million clients, which is equal to about one in every six mortgages across the nation, a press release stated.
Varun Krishna
“Servicing is a critical pillar of homeownership — alongside home search and mortgage origination,” Varun Krishna, CEO of Rocket, said in a statement. “With the right data and AI infrastructure we will deliver the right products at the right time. That’s how we build lifelong relationships, by proactively unlocking benefits and meeting needs before they arise. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Cooper’s nearly 7 million clients.”
Rocket Mortgage currently has an 83 percent recapture rate, and with a larger servicing portfolio through the acquisition, the company expects that to at least hold steady. In gaining about 7 million new clients through the acquisition, the company will also grow its data set, which it believes will allow it to improve automation, personalization and efficiency across processes.
When the deal is closed, Mr. Cooper Group Chairman and CEO Jay Bray will become president and CEO of Rocket Mortgage, and report to Krishna. Dan Gilbert will continue to serve as chairman of Rocket Companies. The combined company’s board will include 11 members, nine of whom will be from Rocket’s board and two of whom will be from Mr. Cooper’s board.
With the acquisition, Mr. Cooper shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 11.0 Rocket shares for each share of Mr. Cooper common stock, a press release explained. Based on the closing price as of March 28, 2025, each share will represent $143.33 — a premium of 35 percent over the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Mr. Cooper’s common stock for the 30 days end on March 28.
Once the transaction is closed, Rocket shareholders will own about 75 percent of the combined company and Mr. Cooper shareholders will own about 25 percent. As the transaction completes, Mr. Cooper will pay a dividend of $2.00 per share of Mr. Cooper common stock.
The deal, which was unanimously approved by both companies’ boards, is expected to close during Q4 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and shareholders approval. It was facilitated in part through a nearly $5 billion bridge loan that Rocket took out from JPMorgan Chase.
Jay Bray
“Mr. Cooper has been on a journey to transform the homeownership experience, and we have built the most advanced servicing platform in the mortgage industry,” Jay Bray, Mr. Cooper Group Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “By combining Mr. Cooper and Rocket, we will form the strongest mortgage company in the industry, offering an end-to-end homeownership experience backed by leading technology and grounded in customer care. I am deeply grateful for the dedication of the Mr. Cooper team and look forward to our continued work as we lead our industry into the future of homeownership.”
With the acquisition, the combined companies expect to gain a balanced business model that will help it remain stable across all types of market environments, the companies said. In 2024, the companies jointly generated $4 billion of servicing fee revenue.
The deal is expected to generate $100 million in pre-tax revenue from higher recapture rates and through attaching Rocket’s title, closing and appraisal services to Mr. Cooper’s mortgage origination services. Rocket said it anticipates $400 million in pre-tax cost savings through the streamlining of operations, expenses and tech investments.
In a LinkedIn post published on Monday, Krishna suggested that he and Bray had been in conversation for some time, recognizing that they had similar ideas regarding “the future of homeownership.”
“Early in my time as CEO, I had the chance to meet Jay Bray and his team,” Krishna wrote. “Right away, I was struck by the strength of their culture, innovative mindset and creativity. As we talked, it quickly became clear: we share the same vision for the future of homeownership. We knew we could do something extraordinary together, and that the combination of Rocket and Mr. Cooper would be greater than the sum of its parts.”
In the $1.75 billion all-stock Redfin acquisition deal, which was announced on March 10, Redfin’s home search platform will be integrated with Rocket’s mortgage origination and servicing capabilities. The deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2025, after which point, Glenn Kelman will continue to head Redfin and report to Krishna. Redfin employees who had been paid in Redfin stock will begin to instead receive Rocket stock at an exchange ratio of 0.7926 Rocket shares.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Rocket Mortgage is the largest lender in the country. However, they were recently bumped to the second largest mortgage lender by originations, behind United Wholesale Mortgage, according to Bankrate. Rocket claims to be the nation’s largest mortgage lender based on closed units reported in 2023 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. But Rocket was surpassed by rival United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) in the third quarter of 2022. Last year Rocket grew closed mortgage loan volume by 29 percent, to $101.2 billion, but trailed UWM, which originated $139.4 billion in mortgages through its relationships with independent mortgage brokers.
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