Filed by Rocket Companies, Inc.
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
and deemed filed pursuant to
Rule 14a-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
Subject Company: Redfin Corporation
Commission File No.: 001-38160
The following is an email sent from Varun Krishna, the Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Companies, Inc., to employees of Redfin Corporation, on March 31, 2025.
Varun email to all Redfin
Good
morning Redfin team and happy Monday,
I’m reaching out to you this morning because we just announced big news at Rocket: we are entering into an agreement to acquire
Mr. Cooper, the nation’s largest mortgage servicer.
Since joining Rocket 18 months ago, I often get asked the question “Are you a mortgage company or a technology company?” to which I respond, “Neither. We are a homeownership company.”
Over time, I’ve realized that a homeownership platform is built from three main parts: home search, mortgage origination and servicing. That’s why our mission is to help everyone home.
For me this realization sits behind our recent acquisition announcements and why we are so excited Redfin will join Rocket. I have loved using your home search and agent platform for decades and as I connected with Glenn and learned more about your business, we knew your team would be critical in accelerating us toward being a true homeownership company together.
With Rocket and Redfin poised to change the game in home search and loan origination, it was time to grow our scale in the servicing aspect of the homeownership platform. We view servicing and the managing of a mortgage for our clients as an opportunity to create lifelong relationships.
Once Mr. Cooper joins Rocket, we will service $2.1 trillion in mortgages - increasing our current servicing client base from about 3 million clients to nearly 10 million clients. That’s one in every six homeowners in America with a mortgage that we can create more benefit for via recapture to our top of funnel.
Our belief is that together, our three companies will build the future of homeownership. That future will be powered by AI, supercharging our amazing teams, unlocking new benefits and increasing savings for clients.
The other important point to underscore is culture. The soul of Rocket is held in our culture, and we found strong alignment with both Redfin and Mr. Cooper - which was a requirement for us in these processes.
Similar to our recent announcement together, Rocket and Mr. Cooper will continue to operate completely separately until that deal closes, which we expect to be in the fourth quarter of this year.
I hope you are as excited as we are to build the future of homeownership together. We believe the whole of Redfin, Rocket and Mr. Cooper together is far greater than the sum of its parts - and I can’t wait to get started building together as quickly as possible.
The future is bright.
-varun
*In the attached, you will find a PDF with disclosures that are standard to include in communications about the acquisition.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains statements herein regarding the proposed transaction between Rocket Companies, Inc. (“Rocket”) and Redfin Corporation (“Redfin”); future financial and operating results; benefits and synergies of the transaction; future opportunities for the combined company; the conversion of equity interests contemplated by the Agreement and Plan of Merger, (the “Merger Agreement”) entered into by Rocket and Redfin on March 9, 2025; the issuance of common stock of Rocket contemplated by the Merger Agreement; the expected filing by Rocket with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) of a registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) and a prospectus of Rocket and a proxy of Redfin to be included therein (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”); the expected timing of the closing of the proposed transaction; the ability of the parties to complete the proposed transaction considering the various closing conditions and any other statements about future expectations that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements in this communication, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements that may be identified by the use of words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and, in each case, their negative or other various or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and discussions related to the proposed transaction and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in such statements.
Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, (i) the risk that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely basis or at all, which may adversely affect Rocket’s and Redfin’s businesses and the price of their respective securities; (ii) the potential failure to receive, on a timely basis or otherwise, the required approvals of the proposed transaction, including stockholder approval by Redfin’s stockholders, and the potential failure to satisfy the other conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction; (iii) the effect of the announcement, pendency or completion of the proposed transaction on each of Rocket’s or Redfin’s ability to attract, motivate, retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with lead agents, partner agents and others with whom Rocket or Redfin does business, or on Rocket’s or Redfin’s operating results and business generally; (iv) that the proposed transaction may divert management’s attention from each of Rocket’s and Redfin’s ongoing business operations; (v) the risk of any legal proceedings related to the proposed transaction or otherwise, including the risk of stockholder litigation in connection with the proposed transaction, or the impact of the proposed transaction thereupon, including resulting expense or delay; (vi) that Rocket or Redfin may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors; (vii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Merger
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Agreement, including in circumstances which would require payment of a termination fee; (viii) the risk that restrictions during the pendency of the proposed transaction may impact Rocket’s or Redfin’s ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions; (ix) the risk that the anticipated benefits and synergies of the proposed transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; (x) the impact of legislative, regulatory, economic, competitive and technological changes; (xi) risks relating to the value of Rocket securities to be issued in the proposed transaction; (xii) the risk that integration of the Rocket and Redfin businesses post-closing may not occur as anticipated or the combined company may not be able to achieve the growth prospects expected from the transaction; and (xiii) the effect of the announcement, pendency or completion of the proposed transaction on the market price of the common stock of each of Rocket and Redfin.
These risks, as well as other risks related to the proposed transaction, will be described in the Registration Statement that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. While the list of factors presented here and the list of factors to be presented in the Registration Statement are considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in each company’s filings with the SEC, including each company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as it may be updated from time to time by quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, all of which are available at the SEC’s website http://www.sec.gov. The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date hereof is hereby disclaimed.
Important Information for Investors and Stockholders
In connection with the proposed transaction, Rocket plans to file with the SEC the Registration Statement on Form S-4, containing the Proxy Statement/Prospectus. After the Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC, the Proxy Statement/Prospectus will be delivered to stockholders of Redfin. Investors and securityholders of Rocket and Redfin are urged to read the Registration Statement and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, including the Proxy Statement/Prospectus that will be part of the Registration Statement when they are available because they will contain important information about Rocket, Redfin, the proposed transaction and related matters. Investors and securityholders of Rocket and Redfin will be able to obtain copies of the Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, when they become available, as well as other filings with the SEC that will be incorporated by reference into such documents, containing information about Rocket and Redfin, without charge, at the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Rocket will be available free of charge under the SEC Filings heading of the Investor Relations section of Rocket’s website at ir.rocketcompanies.com. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Redfin will be available free of charge under the Financials & Filings heading of the Investor Relations section of Redfin’s website investors.redfin.com.
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Participants in Solicitation
Rocket and Redfin and their respective directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Redfin’s stockholders in respect of the transaction under the rules of the SEC. Information regarding Rocket’s directors and executive officers is available in Rocket’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Rocket’s proxy statement, dated April 26, 2024, for its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, which can be obtained free of charge through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Any changes in the holdings of the Rocket’s securities by Rocket’s directors or executive officers from the amounts described in Rocket’s 2024 proxy statement have been reflected in Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC subsequent to the filing date of Rocket’s 2024 proxy statement and are available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Information regarding Redfin’s directors and executive officers is available in Redfin’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Redfin’s proxy statement, dated April 25, 2024, for its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, which can be obtained free of charge through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Any changes in the holdings of Redfin’s securities by Redfin’s directors or executive officers from the amounts described in Redfin’s 2024 proxy statement have been reflected in Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC subsequent to the filing date of Redfin’s 2024 proxy statement and are available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants will be included in the Registration Statement containing the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
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