Xerox Corp. says it has agreed to pay $32 million to acquire Advectis Inc., the Atlanta-based provider of the BlitzDocs suite for mortgage lenders, brokers and investors.
Xerox’s expertise in automating document processes is “an ideal fit” with Advectis’ BlitzDocs paperless solution for mortgages, said John Kelly, president of Xerox Global Services North America, in a press release. “In an industry that is ripe for change, Advectis offers technology that improves productivity for its users while giving lenders better control of their processes.”
Advectis’ Web-based BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite helps lenders, brokers and investors collaborate in managing the underwriting, auditing, delivery and archiving of electronic loan documents. BlitzDocs’ electronic loan folders are set up to mirror the paper folders still used by many lenders, but allow mortgage documents to be viewed and processed online.
Advectis claims it’s helped manage more than 1 million loan folders since the company was founded in 2000, through a network that today includes more than 35,000 broker shops, the top seven mortgage insurance companies and four of the top due diligence providers.
All Advectis employees are expected to join Xerox, and Advectis founder Gregory Smith will continue to lead the Advectis business reporting directly to Kelly, the companies said.
While Advectis will become part of Xerox Global Services, the BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite will retain its brand, Xerox said.
Xerox said its all-cash purchase of Advectis includes an additional performance-based incentive to the sale price, and that the acquisition is expected to close within 30 days.
Xerox, which offers document consulting and outsourcing services, records management and digital imaging, said it is pursuing an acquisition strategy in which it identifies successful companies that are a good fit with the company.
Citing an estimate by business process outsourcing analysts at NelsonHall, Xerox said the global mortgage outsourcing market is worth $11 billion.
“We believe that the recent challenges in the mortgage industry will encourage lenders to adapt new technological solutions that improve efficiency while managing underwriting risks through increased documentation requirements,” Xerox said in a fact sheet explaining the sale to investors.
Xerox noted a TowerGroup estimate that document management costs in loan origination totaled $3.2 billion last year.
