An FTC administrative hearing on the deal is scheduled for July 12.
“Preliminary relief is warranted and necessary,” the FTC said in the complaint. “Should the Commission, after a full administrative proceeding, rule that the acquisition is unlawful, re-establishing the status quo would be difficult, if not impossible, if the acquisition has already taken place in the absence of preliminary relief.”
The FTC sued ICE in March to block the transaction on the grounds that merging the nation’s two largest providers of home mortgage loan origination systems and other major lender software tools would increase costs, reduce innovation and generate revenue. Lenders will have fewer options for equipment to be used for. and service mortgage.
“ICE is fully confident in our position and looks forward to representing it in court,” the company said following the FTC’s lawsuit against ICE. The company confirmed its plan to complete the acquisition in the third or fourth quarter of 2023.
In an effort to allay antitrust concerns regarding the merger, ICE and Black Knight amended the terms of their proposed deal to reduce Black Knight’s valuation to $11.8 billion—down from its valuation at the time the deal was announced last year. About 11% less.
Black Knight sold its loan origination system, Empower, to a Canadian subsidiary Constellation Software Inc. In March, ahead of the FTC’s lawsuit against ICE. The deal included its Exchange, LendingSpace and AIVA solutions.
