Cunningham & Co. plans to double in size

Mortgage banking firm Cunningham & Co. plans to double its home mortgage origination business to $1 billion over the next few years after being bought by a capital markets firm.

The Greensboro-based company has five offices in the Charlotte area. As part of the growth, it will also add a servicing platform and will sell mortgages directly to government sponsored entitites.

The company also plans to hire more employees at all of its offices.

Florida-based Capital Markets Cooperative announced late last month that it will acquire Cunningham & Co. Capital Markets Cooperative helps mortgage banks enter secondary markets.

"There is a fundamental shift taking place in the residential mortgage industry. We have a unique opportunity to combine our mortgage expertise and industry reputation with the capital markets expertise and access to capital of Capital Markets Cooperative," CEO Hank Cunningham said in a statement. "The timing makes perfect sense to take our relationship with CMC to the next level, while maintaining our name, management team and employee base."

As larger banks like Bank of America have curtailed their correspondent lending practices, mortgage industry analysts have expected an increase in the number of smaller companies expanding their origination and servicing businesses.