October 24, 2003
Contact:
Allison Smith
For Banton Technologies
allison@williammills.com
(678) 781-7216
J. Blair Logan
For Banton Technologies
blair@williammills.com
(678) 781-7218
TransUnion Acquires Huntsville-based Banton Technologies
Proprietary technology and database added to
TransUnion’s
real estate services
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Oct. 24, 2003 - Huntsville-based
Banton Technologies, a national collateral evaluation
system provider specializing in real estate technology
and residential valuation solutions for the mortgage
industry, announced that TransUnion, a leading global
information solutions company, has acquired the company.
TransUnion will integrate Banton Technologies into
the company’s real estate services subsidiary,
TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Inc. At the time of
this announcement, terms of the agreement are undisclosed.
According to the agreement, TransUnion will add Banton’s ValueWizard™ automated
valuation model (AVM), a proprietary technology for determining the value of
residential properties nationwide, along with ValueWizard Interactive™,
a desktop solution that offers analyst or appraiser support to enhance valuation
accuracy, to its already-robust and industry-leading residential lending process
solutions.
“Banton Technologies is well regarded in the residential lending industry
and
their expertise is an excellent fit within our organization,” said Rick
Lynch, president of TransUnion’s Real Estate Services business. “Adding
the ValueWizardTM suite of solutions and their comprehensive real estate database
fortifies our efforts to be the premier nationwide, single source solution for
residential lenders.”
“In becoming part of TransUnion, I am confident that Banton Technologies’ existing
customers will benefit significantly from their broad industry knowledge, dedication
and experience, both in the residential lending and the consumer credit information
marketplace,” said Dr. Stan Banton, chairman and founder of Banton Technologies.
Dr. Banton founded Banton Technologies in 1996 and is the principal architect
of ValueWizard, the company’s Automated Valuation Model (AVM) that utilizes
property characteristics, sales data and spatially defined variables to develop
an accurate estimate of value for a residential property. The data is computed
using geo-statistical formulae developed by Dr. Banton.
Dr. Banton is a renowned expert in the real estate and appraisal industries,
holds an MAI certification and is considered the “Father of the AVM.” His
level of academic and practical experience makes him the most credible source
of information regarding appraisals and AVMs in the industry. He has been referenced
and quoted in multiple mortgage and financial publications, including: Mortgage
Banking, Mortgage Technology, National Mortgage News, Inside Mortgage Technology,
Origination News and MBA NewsLink. He is considered by many in the industry as
the leading thinker and innovator with regard to AVM technology.
Much of Banton Technologies’ success is attributable to the company’s
management team and the human resources available to them in Huntsville. According
to Banton Technologies CEO, Greg Brock, the company’s entire technical
staff is made up exclusively of individuals pulled from Huntsville’s talent
pool. “Having good people in the right position was critical to successfully
achieving the two goals that we set forth to meet -- generating a great return
for our shareholders during a tough period for investors and creating one of
the best AVMs in the country,” said Brock. “This was all made possible
by the vision and hard work from our chairman and founder, Dr. Banton, and the
vast resources of technical talent that Huntsville offers, which makes this city
an ideal place to start a high-tech company.”
Banton Technologies representatives also attribute much of their initial success
to the BizTech, a local non-profit organization that was designed to support
small, high-tech Huntsville companies in their vulnerable start-up phase. “ A
company under the wing of the Biztech has much higher chance of succeeding,” said
Brock. “Biztech was very helpful to us by bringing in investment, business
and legal advisors that we would have had a much more difficult time obtaining
on our own and they helped us obtain affordable insurance. The former Biztech
CEO, Joanne Randolph, and the current CEO, Dick Reeves, were of great help to
us at many steps along the way.”
About TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading global information solutions
company that customers trust as a business intelligence
partner and commerce facilitator. TransUnion offers
a broad range of financial products and services that enable customers to manage
risk and capitalize on market opportunities. The company uses leading-edge technology
coupled with extensive analytical capabilities to combat fraud and facilitate
credit transactions between businesses and consumers across multiple markets.
Founded in 1968, Chicago-based TransUnion employs 3,000 associates that support
clients in 24 countries. Visit the company at www.transunion.com.
TransUnion’s residential lending services are delivered through its subsidiary,
TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Inc., a premier provider of real estate information,
settlement services and process management solutions to the residential lending
industry. For more information about TransUnion Settlement Solutions, visit us
on the Internet at www.transunionssi.com or call 1-888-299-8787.
About Banton Technologies
Founded in 1997 by Dr. Stan Banton, PhD, MAI, Banton Technologies is a collateral
evaluation systems provider specializing in real estate technology and residential
valuation solutions. Through a combination of an enhanced Automated Valuation
Model (AVM), ValueWizard 3.0, personal interaction and integrated mapping tools,
Banton Technologies achieves much higher usable valuation rates than most standard
AVMs.
The company utilizes a Property Review Report to collect basic data on the subject
property in conjunction with a robust AVM, ValueWizard, which employs geo-statistical
formulae to return a highly accurate property value. Banton Technologies currently
uses multiple sources of data to provide valuation capability in more than 1,100
counties throughout the U.S., making it the most comprehensive AVM for this region.
Additional information can be found online at www.banton.com.
