Two Harbors climbs after mortgage lender UWM's buyout bid

Two Harbors Investment

19/03/2026 14:30

Corrects to make clear buyout bid from unnamed party

** Shares of real estate investment trust Two Harbors Investment TWO.N up 11.5% at $10.63 early Thurs after receiving buyout offer from an unnamed party

** TWO says its board received an unsolicited proposal to acquire all of its outstanding shares for $10.70/sh in cash

** In Dec, TWO and lender UWM Holdings UWMC.N had agreed to an all-stock merger worth $1.3 bln that would nearly double the latter's mortgage servicing rights portfolio

** The current proposal would equate to a roughly $1.1 bln deal, based on Minnesota-based TWO's ~105 mln shares outstanding

** TWO says there can be no assurance that its board's ad hoc committee will conclude that the unsolicited proposal is superior, and that prior merger agreement with UWMC remains in effect

** U.S. mortgage industry is consolidating as lenders seek greater scale after high interest rates curtailed refinancing activity and pressured earnings

** UWMC shares down ~3% at $3.48 on the session and have fallen ~40% over the past year

** Including gain on Thurs, TWO shares down nearly 25% over the past 12 months

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))