Two mortgage companies delay IPOs amid market volatility

Caliber Home Loans and AmeriHome held off on going public for now

Caliber Home Loans CEO Sanjiv Das and AmeriHome CEO Jim Furash (Photos via Caliber Home Loans; AmeriHome; iStock)
Caliber Home Loans CEO Sanjiv Das and AmeriHome CEO Jim Furash (Photos via Caliber Home Loans; AmeriHome; iStock)

Some mortgage companies are getting skittish about recent market volatility and have delayed plans to go public.

Caliber Home Loans said it was delaying its IPO, which was originally set for Wednesday. AmeriHome is also planning to hold off on its IPO, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The two companies were scheduled to price their offerings on Wednesday after the market closed.

Caliber planned to sell 23 million shares for $14 to $16 each in the hopes of raising up to $368 million, according to Bloomberg. AmeriHome, meanwhile, filed to sell 14.7 million shares for $16 to $18 apiece, which would have allowed it to raise up to $265 million.

Just a few months ago, mortgage companies were attempting to hop onto a booming IPO bandwagon. Dan Gilbert’s Detroit-based Rocket Companies, which operates Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage, raised $2.07 billion for its public offering. In September, United Wholesale Mortgage announced plans to go public through a reverse merger with a SPAC led by Alec Gores.

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But the stock and futures market have faced a wave of volatility amid fears of an uptick in coronavirus cases in Europe and the U.S. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jumped to over 40 on Wednesday, the index’s highest level since mid-June, according to Bloomberg.

Demand for mortgages has surged since the onset of the pandemic as mortgage rates fell to record lows and more people are searching for new homes.

[Bloomberg] — Keith Larsen