Black Knight, Inc. has acquired eMBS, Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based company that provides complex mortgage-backed securities (MBS) information and analytics to market participants. The acquisition expands Black Knight’s secondary market offerings and adds agency data and analytics to its mortgage solution ecosystem.
“The U.S. agency MBS market is the second-largest fixed income asset class, behind only U.S. Treasuries,” Black Knight CEO Anthony Jabbour said in a release. “eMBS is the undisputed leader in providing a complete and timely view that combines data from the three agencies that make up this massive asset class.”
Black Knight said eMBS has long been seen as the standard equipment for agency MBS investors, as the cost of maintaining accurate and timely databases and analytics of the agency MBS market is expensive and time-consuming. Clients who license eMBS data reduce the operational burden and eliminate the start-up costs associated with participating in the market.
According to the release, eMBS clients can access either granular agency data of summarized database-ready information with pre-calculated prepayments and various market aggregations. Benefits of using eMBS include reducing the costs of data, systems, and personnel and eliminating the need for mortgage-specific databases, data feeds, and programs required to update, calculate, aggregate, and display said data.
“Black Knight is the perfect choice to continue eMBS’ mission to provide efficient and cost-effective access to agency MBS data,” Larry Gioia, eMBS president and founder, said. “Our capabilities will complement Black Knight’s comprehensive, nationwide mortgage data and enhance its ability to provide sophisticated analytics for GSE [government sponsored enterprise] and Ginnie Mae loan pools, as well as REMICs [real estate mortgage investment conduits]. The result will be the most comprehensive view of U.S. residential mortgage whole loan and security performance in existence. eMBS would like to thank the many industry participants who have supported us, and we look forward to continuing to support you as part of Black Knight.”
Black Knight will integrate eMBS’ technology into several of its offerings, including its AFT Prepayment and Default model, its McDash loan performance database, and its Rapid Analytics platform. eMBS data will be combined with the McDash loan performance database to increase the accuracy of the AFT models and provide a more detailed view of mortgage risk. The Rapid Analytics platform will provide easy access to the eMBS data in a “cloud-based data science studio, alongside its continually growing marketplace of data assets.”
“By integrating eMBS within the Black Knight solutions ecosystem, we can provide the industry’s preeminent agency data and analytics to clients of both companies, while helping them make informed decisions around mortgage-backed securities investment and research,” Jabbour said. “eMBS is a valuable addition to our comprehensive ecosystem and will help Black Knight solidify our leadership in the mortgage secondary markets.”