Prospect Mortgage to Acquire IndyMac Mortgage Branches

Prospect Mortgage issued a press release yesterday saying it was acquiring Indymac's retail mortgage branches. The release reads in part:

(Northbrook, IL, July 8, 2008) – Prospect Mortgage has signed an agreement to acquire the majority of IndyMac Bankcorp’s retail mortgage branches. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The transaction encompasses approximately 750 employees along with more than 60 branch offices which will rebrand as Prospect Mortgage. John Johnston and Ron Bergum will remain in leadership roles with the retail branch group and report to Mark Filler, CEO of Prospect Mortgage.

I spoke with Prospect Mortgage and this transaction just covers Indymac's mortgage business. They are not purchasing other bank functions or the bank's deposit business. Indymac has stated that it plans to exit the retail mortgage business and this looks like a logical step.