Merrill Lynch & Co. said Tuesday it’s buying National City Corp.’s subprime mortgage unit for $1.3 billion, including online lender NationPoint of Lake Forest.
National City’s First Franklin mortgage unit did nearly $30 billion in loans last year.
The unit’s various businesses,San Jose-based First Franklin, NationPoint and Pittsburgh-based National City Home Loan Services Inc.,are expected to continue operating as they have under Merrill Lynch.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Cleveland-based National City said in July it was considering a sale of NationPoint and First Franklin.
NationPoint makes several types of home loans, including ones with interest-only monthly payments or no down payment. All of its loans are made through NationPoint’s Web site.
The operation employs roughly 380 people in Lake Forest. NationPoint is the ninth largest online mortgage lender in the U.S.
NationPoint reported pretax earnings of $10.7 million and $1.7 billion in loans in 2005.
