Shortly after the filing of the Black Knight Complaint, on November 6, 2019, PennyMac filed an Antitrust Complaint (the “PennyMac Complaint”) against Black Knight in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The PennyMac Complaint included causes of action for alleged monopolization and attempted monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, violation of California’s Cartwright Act, violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law and common law unfair competition under California law. The PennyMac Complaint sought equitable remedies, damages and other monetary relief, including treble and punitive damages. Generally, PennyMac alleged that Black Knight relies on various anticompetitive, unfair and discriminatory practices to maintain and to enhance its dominance in the mortgage servicing platform market and in an attempt to monopolize the platform software applications market. Black Knight moved to dismiss the PennyMac Complaint or have the action transferred to Florida based upon a forum selection clause in the agreement with BKST. On February 13, 2020, the judge granted Black Knight's motion to transfer the case to Florida and denied as moot the motion to dismiss. On April 17, 2020, PennyMac filed a notice of dismissal of this action without prejudice and indicated that they intended to bring the claims raised in the dismissed PennyMac Complaint as defenses, third party claims and/or counterclaims in arbitration. On April 23, 2020, the court entered an order dismissing the action without prejudice and directing that the clerk close the case. On April 28, 2020, PennyMac submitted this matter to the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") for arbitration. The arbitrator was confirmed by the AAA on July 21, 2020. On February 17, 2022, PennyMac filed an amended arbitration demand and Black Knight filed an answering statement on March 2, 2022.
The final arbitration hearing on both Black Knight’s trade secret case and PennyMac’s antitrust case began on March 13, 2023. The hearing is scheduled to conclude by the end of May 2023 and we currently expect the arbitrator’s final decision to be issued in the third quarter of 2023. As these cases continue to evolve, it is not possible to reasonably estimate the probability that we will ultimately prevail on our lawsuit or be held liable for the violations alleged in the PennyMac Complaint, nor is it possible to reasonably estimate the ultimate gain or loss, if any, or range of gain or loss that could result from these cases.
FTC Litigation regarding ICE Transaction
On March 9, 2023, the FTC filed a complaint under its administrative court, styled In the Matter of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., seeking to block the ICE Transaction and alleging that ICE’s proposed acquisition of BKI violates Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45, and if consummated would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 18, and Section 5 of the FTC Act by harming competition and leading to higher costs for lenders and buyers. Because both ICE and BKI each own software tools known as loan origination systems (“LOS”) used by mortgage lenders to manage the mortgage loan origination process, and each own product pricing and eligibility engines (“PPE”), which is software that integrates with an LOS and is used by lenders to obtain and lock in the best interest rates for a borrower, the FTC alleges that the merger would harm competition for these products and result in increased costs, which would eventually be passed on to buyers. Furthermore, the FTC alleges that, because ICE and BKI offer other ancillary services in addition to PPEs, which rely on LOS integration, the proposed merger would disadvantage additional competing ancillary service providers by diverting business to those provided by ICE.
To remedy any hypothetical competitive harm resulting from the proposed merger, ICE and BKI have agreed to sell BKI’s Empower LOS and certain related services to a technology company, Constellation Web Solutions, Inc., which is conditioned upon the closing of the ICE Transaction. The FTC’s position is that this proposed remedy does not address the alleged anticompetitive effects of the proposed merger. BKI believes that the FTC’s position is without merit and filed its initial answer and defenses on March 20, 2023. The administrative hearing on the merits is scheduled to begin on July 12, 2023.
On April 10, 2023, the FTC filed a parallel complaint in federal court seeking injunctive relief, styled Federal Trade Commission v. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and Black Knight, Inc., pending in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. The FTC seeks a preliminary injunction to block ICE and BKI from completing the ICE Transaction during the pendency of the administrative proceeding on the merits. On April 21, 2023, the District Court entered a temporary restraining order that prevents ICE and BKI from consummating the ICE Transaction until 11:59 p.m. on the second business day after the Court rules on the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction, or a date set by the Court, whichever is later. On April 25, 2023, BKI filed its response to the FTC’s complaint generally denying the allegations and asserting several defenses. BKI also asserted a counterclaim against the FTC seeking declaratory and injunctive relief alleging violations of BKI’s constitutional rights.