Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces the Acquisition of Commonwealth Land Title, Lawyers Title and United Title from Land
26 November 2008 - 6:09PM
PR Newswire (US)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fidelity
National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) today announced the signing of
a stock purchase agreement with LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc.
("LFG") pursuant to which FNF will acquire LFG's two principal
title insurance underwriters, Commonwealth Land Title Insurance
Company ("Commonwealth") and Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation
("Lawyers"), as well as United Capital Title Insurance Company
("United"). Under the terms of the stock purchase agreement,
Chicago Title Insurance Company will acquire Commonwealth for
$158.6 million and Fidelity National Title Insurance Company will
acquire Lawyers and United for $139.4 million, for a total purchase
price of $298.0 million. The transaction anticipates that LFG will
file Chapter 11 proceedings and is subject to certain closing
conditions and regulatory approvals, including the entry of final
approved orders by the Chapter 11 court, Hart Scott Rodino approval
and the receipt of Form A approvals from applicable state insurance
regulators. Closing is expected to take place as early as late
December 2008. "The acquisition of these established title
insurance franchises is an exciting opportunity for FNF," said
Chairman William P. Foley, II. "We have always had great respect
for the Commonwealth, Lawyers and United commercial and residential
operations and all three underwriters will emerge from the LFG
bankruptcy proceedings as much stronger, stable and more valuable
companies. To the extent that it is legally permissible, we expect
to immediately begin meeting with the Commonwealth, Lawyers and
United managers, employees, agents and customers throughout the
country to ensure a smooth transition after closing, as we welcome
these underwriters and their employees, agents and customers into
the FNF title insurance family." Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
(NYSE:FNF), is a leading provider of title insurance, specialty
insurance, claims management services and information services. FNF
is one of the nation's largest title insurance companies through
its title insurance underwriters -- Fidelity National Title,
Chicago Title, Ticor Title, Security Union Title and Alamo Title --
that issue approximately 27 percent of all title insurance policies
in the United States. FNF also provides flood insurance, personal
lines insurance and home warranty insurance through its specialty
insurance business. FNF also is a leading provider of outsourced
claims management services to large corporate and public sector
entities through its minority-owned subsidiary, Sedgwick CMS. FNF
is also a leading information services company in the human
resource, retail and transportation markets through another
minority-owned subsidiary, Ceridian Corporation. More information
about FNF can be found at http://www.fnf.com/. This press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks
and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts,
including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on
management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and
information currently available to, management. Because such
statements are based on expectations as to future economic
performance and are not statements of fact, actual results may
differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. The risks and
uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject to
include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the proposed
stock purchase agreement will not be completed due to the failure
to secure necessary regulatory approvals; the possibility that
there are unexpected delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; the
possibility that the revenues, cost savings, growth prospects and
any other synergies expected from the proposed transaction may not
be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected;
changes in general economic, business and political conditions,
including changes in the financial markets; continued weakness or
adverse changes in the level of real estate activity, which may be
caused by, among other things, high or increasing interest rates, a
limited supply of mortgage funding or a weak U. S. economy; our
potential inability to find suitable acquisition candidates,
acquisitions in lines of business that will not necessarily be
limited to our traditional areas of focus, or difficulties in
integrating acquisitions; our dependence on operating subsidiaries
as a source of cash flow; significant competition that our
operating subsidiaries face; compliance with extensive government
regulation of our operating subsidiaries; and other risks detailed
in the "Statement Regarding Forward- Looking Information," "Risk
Factors" and other sections of the Company's Form 10-K and other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DATASOURCE:
Fidelity National Financial, Inc. CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy,
Senior Vice President and Treasurer, Fidelity National Financial,
Inc., +1-904-854-8120, Web site: http://www.fnf.com/
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