MBNA to Buy Nexstar

MBNA Corp., a credit card lender based in Wilmington, Del., has announced an agreement to acquire Nexstar Financial Corp., a provider of mortgage outsourcing services based in St. Charles, Mo.The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the agreement, MBNA will acquire all of Nexstar's assets, including its proprietary home loan origination and processing platform. Nexstar's management and all its existing employees will join MBNA, and all Nexstar's facilities will remain in operation, the credit card lender said. "By integrating the Nexstar platform with our existing operations, MBNA will provide private-label and co-branded home equity loans through our many affinity group partners, further broadening our relationships with these groups," said Richard K. Struthers, an MBNA vice chairman. The credit card lender can be found on the Web at http://www.mbna.com.