Countrywide - Will Angelo Ever Sell?

As Mortgage Servicing News went to press this month, tongues were wagging about the favorite rumor in mortgageland: Is Countrywide Financial Corp., the golden child of industry veteran Angelo Mozilo, in play? Answer: No, it's not in play but journalists worldwide have never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Of course, the company itself doesn't help dissuade the rumor mill by doling out the standard PR line of "We don't comment on market rumors" which means if a hedge fund from Mars was conducting due diligence it still wouldn't comment.

How do I know the company isn't for sale? Actually, I don't know, but after covering Mr. Mozilo and Countrywide for two decades I think I can safely pass on this piece of knowledge: this chairman and CEO will not sell out until the offer price is so good it makes him faint. (He doesn't strike me as being an easy fainter.) He will not sell out until he dies (no offense, Mr. Mozilo) and even then there's still no guarantee that he won't be pulling the strings from the grave. He's that type of guy.

But one thing is for certain: Countrywide (as well as the entire mortgage industry) is at a crossroads. Born in the year the "Miracle" Mets won the World Series (1969), it has defied all odds. Of all the top 10 non-depository mortgage bankers that were once operating in the early

1990s, Countrywide is the last man standing. Everyone else has either sold out or merged. Prudential Home Mortgage - remember them? Gone (sold to Norwest/Wells). G.E. Capital Mortgage? Bad business plan. They're gone, too. Lomas & Nettleton? Don't get me started.

Countrywide has survived by being adept, smart, cunning, ruthless and keeping its eye on the ball. It has survived - and thrived - by converting to a depository. There is no doubt in my that if Countrywide had not acquired a bank it would be owned by someone else today - not because it liked the offer but because Mr. Mozilo and his team of grizzled veterans would be forced to sell because of liquidity reasons.

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