OPTIMAL BLUE ACQUIRES USHERPA
Advisory Role: Krall & Co. Inc. advised Usherpa in connection with this transaction.
Announcement Date: October 12, 2026
Target: Media Center LLC (dba Usherpa) (1995) provides the Relationship Engagement Platform, a cloud-based software system that combines CRM and marketing automation for mortgage loan officers (“LOs”). The platform helps LOs stay connected with closed customers and prospects. It also helps LOs initiate and maintain relationships with real estate agents who can refer borrowers seeking purchase money mortgages. The marketing automation system sends consistent and compliant content to customers, prospects, loan-in-process borrowers, and referral partners by email, text, and direct mail. The platform also enables marketing departments and LOs to create their own content. In addition, Usherpa offers Smartscore Opportunity Alerts, an AI- powered proprietary algorithm that predicts the likelihood of contacts in Usherpa’s CRM database refinancing an existing loan or financing a new home purchase; and Pipelines, proprietary software solution that enables organizations to manage leads, nurture relationships, and improve conversion outcomes with greater efficiency. Finally, the platform enables customers to build performance reports showing metrics such as branch production, usage, and email analytics.
Buyer: Optimal Blue (2002) provides an end-to-end capital markets platform for mortgage lenders. Its technology, data and integrations bridge primary and secondary markets to help lenders optimize performance from pricing accuracy to margin protection. Products include a product, pricing and eligibility engine (PPE), which enables loan originators to search for loan products in a database of loan programs, determine a loan applicant’s eligibility for loan products based on applicant specific information, provide real-time adjusted pricing, manage prospects, register borrowers and submit rate lock requests; and secondary market solutions, which include mortgage pipeline risk management, best execution, and loan allocation services and technology. Constellation Software Inc. acquired Optimal Blue from Black Knight, Inc. in 2023.
Deal Rationale: The acquisition expands Optimal Blue’s ability to help lenders win more business by bringing borrower engagement capabilities closer to its product, pricing and eligibility solutions. Usherpa will be natively integrated into Optimal Blue, while continuing to serve loan officers, real estate professionals and mortgage companies nationwide.
Terms: Optimal Blue, LLC has acquired Media Center LLC (dba Usherpa). Financial terms were not disclosed.