Online broker E*Trade Group Inc. Wednesday said it had expanded its investment in E-Loan Inc., a privately-held Internet mortgage company.
The details of the investment were not released.
E*Trade exercised warrants granted to it last year when it signed a three-year agreement with E-Loan, making the service the brokerage’s exclusive multi-lender partner.
Christos Cotsakos, E*Trade’s chief executive officer and chairman-elect,
said the increased investment was due in part to the enthusiastic response
the brokerage has seen since first incorporating E-Loan on its site.
“During the past several months, we’ve been extremely impressed with the
E-Loan management team, its business strategy and the company’s suite of
financial products and services. This has heightened our desire to further
leverage our already strong relationship with E-Loan. . .,” he said.
Cotsakos said increasing its stake in E-Loan is E*Trade’s latest move to
establish itself as a leader in online financial services.
The move comes one day after the brokerage announced plans to launch a new
investment bank that would give clients expanded service and allow them to
get in on initial public offerings.