Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces Formation of New Upscale Dining Focused Company
Jacksonville, Fla. -- (February 25, 2013) -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services and diversified services, today announced the formation of J. Alexander's, LLC ("J. Alexander's"), a newly formed restaurant company focused on the upscale dining segment.
J. Alexander's will consist of the current thirty-two J. Alexander's concepts and the ten existing Stoney River Legendary Steaks ("Stoney River") concepts. Stoney River was previously owned by American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC ("ABRH"), FNF's casual and family dining focused restaurant company. ABRH contributed Stoney River to J. Alexander's for approximately a 28% ownership position in the new company. FNF restaurant operations now consist of the 55% ownership position in ABRH and 87% ownership position in J. Alexander's.
Lonnie J. Stout, II, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of J. Alexander's Corporation, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed J. Alexander's. Hazem Ouf will remain Chief Executive Officer of ABRH. Both companies will be headquartered in Nashville.
"We are extremely pleased with FNF's decision to align our restaurant operations with a group that will focus exclusively on the upscale industry," said J. Alexander's President and Chief Executive Officer Lonnie J. Stout. "FNF is committed to the operation and growth of not only our concept but to the potential acquisition of other restaurant companies in our upscale dining segment. We are also excited about integrating the Stoney River operation into J. Alexander's and assisting it with its goal of continuing to be one of the leaders in the upscale dining segment of the restaurant industry, while also continuing to work on improving the operations and financial performance of our existing J. Alexander's restaurants."
"Since its formation in 1991, the J. Alexander's concept has placed consistent emphasis on providing guests with a high quality dining experience and outstanding professional service," said FNF Executive Chairman William P. Foley, II. "We are pleased to have the experienced J. Alexander's management team operate our existing upscale dining focused restaurants while leading the initiative to identify other upscale concepts for acquisition. We believe our restaurant operations can be optimally managed through a distinct upscale dining focused company and a separate family and casual dining focused company, allowing each to be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities in their different market segments. We are confident this structure will allow us to best maximize the value of our restaurant operations for the benefit of our shareholders."
Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), is a leading provider of title insurance, mortgage services and diversified services. FNF is the nation's largest title insurance company through its title insurance underwriters - Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title - that collectively issue more title insurance policies than any other title company in the United States. FNF owns a 55% stake in American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC, a family and casual dining restaurant owner and operator of the O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurant, Max & Erma's, Village Inn, and Bakers Square concepts. FNF also owns an 87% stake in J. Alexander's, LLC, an upscale dining restaurant owner and operator of the J. Alexander's and Stoney River Legendary Steaks concepts. In addition, FNF also owns a 51% stake in Remy International, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer, remanufacturer, marketer and distributor of aftermarket and original equipment electrical components for automobiles, light trucks, heavy-duty trucks and other vehicles. FNF also owns a minority interest in Ceridian Corporation, a leading provider of global human capital management and payment solutions. More information about FNF can be found at 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 regarding our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future 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 financial and operating results 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: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; 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 distributions from our title insurance underwriters as a main 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.
SOURCE: Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President and Treasurer, 904-854-8120, dkmurphy@fnf.com