Wintrust Financial Corp:

* WINTRUST ANNOUNCES VETERANS FIRST MORTGAGE ACQUISITION AGREEMENT

* SAYS CO‘S UNIT HAS NEGOTIATED TERMS TO PURCHASE CERTAIN ASSETS AND ASSUME CERTAIN LIABILITIES OF IFREEDOM DIRECT CORPORATION

* ‍TERMS OF THIS CASH TRANSACTION ARE NOT BEING DISCLOSED BY PARTIES​

* ‍VETERANS FIRST MORTGAGE IS PROJECTED TO ORIGINATE IN EXCESS OF $800 MILLION IN LOANS IN 2017 AND EMPLOY ABOUT 400 EMPLOYEES​

* ‍TRANSACTION IS EXPECTED TO BE SLIGHTLY ACCRETIVE TO WINTRUST‘S 2018 EARNINGS PER SHARE​

* WINTRUST FINANCIAL-AGREEMENT EXPECTED TO INCLUDE SERVICING RIGHTS FROM VETERANS FIRST MORTGAGE ON ABOUT 9,000 LOANS, OF ESTIMATED $1.4 BILLION IN PRINCIPAL BALANCE​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: