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Paragon Announces Acquisition of Shearson Home Loans From Consumer Direct of America, Inc. 2/7/06
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., Feb 07, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Paragon Financial Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: PGNF), a consolidator in the highly fragmented financial services marketplace, announced today that it reached an agreement to acquire Shearson Home Loans, Inc. from Consumer Direct of America, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CSUA). Under the agreement, Paragon will issue to Consumer Direct of America the equivalent of four shares of Paragon's common stock for each Paragon share and share equivalent outstanding.
Shearson Home Loans, Inc. is a fast-growing provider of residential mortgages. It employs over 300 people, 250 of whom are residential mortgage real estate brokerage professionals who had closed-loan volume of $1.1 billion, which accounted for over 6,435 loan transactions in 2004. Shearson operates 54,000 sq. ft. of branch office space with 37 locations in 30 states. The company is a consolidator of independent mortgage brokerages and has grown rapidly during the last three years through acquisition and consolidation.
"We view Shearson as an ideal partner in our quest to consolidate the mortgage brokerage industry," said Paul Danner, CEO of Paragon Financial Corporation. "Not only do we share the same vision for the industry, but melding our complementary management talent, business processes, and geographic locations into a single operating entity should produce positive tangible synergy," he added.
"With the completion of this transaction, we no longer have to advance the theoretical concept of a desired end-state, but instead are able to clearly demonstrate to prospective acquisition candidates a proven, fully-functional operating platform," said Scott Vining, chief financial officer of Paragon.
About Paragon Financial Corporation
Paragon Financial Corporation (http://www.pgnf.com) is a financial services business focused on the acquisition of companies that originate mortgages loans or provide other financial services.
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