In today’s Daily Download episode, the digital team interviews James Kleimann, HousingWire’s mortgage editor, on loanDepot’s announcement that it plans to go public.

For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:

After a dramatic false start in 2015, California-based lender loanDepot says it’s finally going public.

The company, founded by billionaire entrepreneur Anthony Hsieh, said Wednesday morning that its newly formed affiliate loanDepot Inc. had confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.

“The number of shares of Class A common stock to be sold and the price range for the proposed initial public offering have not been determined,” the lender said in a statement.

In September, Bloomberg reported that loanDepot, which operates in retail, wholesale and correspondent channels, was eyeing an IPO that would see it valued at between $12 billion and $15 billion.

LoanDepot, backed by private equity shop Parthenon Capital Partners, first announced plans to go public in September 2015, but canceled the IPO hours before pricing due to what the company called adverse “market conditions.”At the time, loanDepot had sought a market value of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion. In March 2017, the company revived plans for an IPO but didn’t follow through.

LoanDepot, which has a reputation for investing heavily in technology, was the sixth-largest mortgage lender in 2019, issuing 146,000 originations. It originated 52,000 purchase loans and 81,000 refinancings, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.

HousingWire articles covered in this episode: