[Update 1: Adds comments from Prospect manager] Prospect Mortgage announced it opened a regional headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill. The Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based company added it will open new branches in the Chicago area and in Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. Last year, Prospect made a splash in the industry when it announced it had inked a deal to take over the majority of the retail mortgage branches of failed Indymac Bancorp. When the deal was announced, Prospect said it acquired more than 60 branch offices nationwide and 750 of Indymac’s retail employees, including loan officers. But IndyMac’s branches were primarily located on the east and west coasts, with minimal presence in the Midwest. Prospect wants to change that, the lender’s new regional manager Joe Perry told HousingWire. Perry said Prospect’s increased presence in the Midwest will fill the gap in its coverage, particularly in the Chicago market. To do that, Perry is joined by two additional new managers to lead the expansion — senior sales force market development manager Cliff Theriault and special financing division market manager Mary Bane. Prospect is backed by private equity fund Sterling Partners, which has more than $4bn of capital under management, the lender said. Write to Austin Kilgore.