news-record.com

WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — The launch of a startup mortgage insurer is giving 40 employees at Triad Guaranty Inc. a chance at a new career.

Triad said Wednesday that it has reached a deal to sell its information-technology and operating platform to Essent Guaranty Inc. of Radnor, Pa., for up to $30 million.

The companies said that up to $15 million of the deal is contingent on Essent writing a certain minimum amount of insurance in future years. The deal is expected to close by year's end.

Essent will open an operation and technology center in Winston-Salem, subleasing space at Triad's headquarters off Stratford Road. The Triad employees will transfer to Essent, but still will service accounts and provide information-technology support to Triad.

In June 2008, the national housing crisis claimed Triad as the first major victim in the mortgage-insurance business. The company said at that time that it would discontinue writing new mortgage-insurance business and conduct "an orderly transition of its business to run-off."

That means the company's revenue would come from existing policies that will eventually expire. The company has said that it expects to exist for another four to nine years.

Once the deal is done, Triad will have 90 employees in its loss-management, quality-assurance and corporate areas, said Ken Jones, its chief executive and president.

''While preserving our control over loss mitigation and claims processing to protect our policyholders during run-off, Triad stakeholders benefit from the proceeds generated by the sale of the platform and reduced costs to service our run-off book of business going forward," Jones said.

Mark Casale, the president and chief executive of Essent, said that by buying the Triad technology, the company will be able to "provide mortgage insurance in the near future on a proven technology and operating platform."