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Title insurer and technology provider Stewart Information Services Corp. says it’s positioning itself to do more business with institutional investors and lenders by acquiring BCHH Inc., a national vendor management company offering title and settlement services in all 50 states.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In an announcement Tuesday, Stewart CEO Fred Eppinger said BCHH has “a unique specialty in the bulk transaction space that complements our existing lender services businesses.”
Fred Eppinger
BCHH’s relationships with investor and lender customers “make them a perfect partner as we continue to grow our portfolio of service offerings,” Eppinger said.
Founded in 2007, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based BCHH provides national title and settlement services to mortgage servicers, real estate investors, asset management companies, government entities and law firms focusing on default and commercial services.
In addition to specialized services to support default management, BCHH provides solutions to both lenders and government entities for real estate title and closing transactions through a managed network of suppliers.
“The title industry is constantly changing and by joining Stewart, it allows us to stay ahead of the curve and offer our customers enhanced products and services,” BCHH President and co-founder Charles Marino said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to building upon our existing customer relationships, while also bringing additional value-added services to the Stewart family.”
Since becoming Stewart’s CEO in September of 2019 in the wake of a failed merger bid with Fidelity National Financial, Eppinger has acquired a stable of companies to fill in holes in the company’s ancillary services offerings, which include appraisal management services, search and valuation and online notarization and closing solutions.
In September 2021, Stewart closed a $192 million deal to acquire data and analytics provider Informative Research, a move that was followed by a $175 million acquisition of property data aggregator PropStream in November.
Last year Eppinger said Stewart could be more selective about acquiring ancillary businesses, even as it continued to acquire title agencies in Michigan, Washington and Ohio that could help it grow market share in its core title insurance business.
Stewart announced the acquisition of Rockville, Maryland-based FNC Title Services LLC (FNC) in October. Cloudvirga, a digital mortgage point-of-sale platform Stewart acquired last year, also announced the launch of a new wholesale third-party origination (TPO) platform to serve mortgage brokers.
“By continually building our existing capabilities, while adding new and differentiated ones, we’re able to better service our customers and position ourselves as a service provider of choice,” Eppinger said Tuesday.
Crediting Eppinger with generating “record-setting growth and success,” Stewart’s board of directors extended his CEO contract by three years in October.
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