Fidelity National Title Group Announces Strategic Partnership With NextAce to Produce Title Reports in As Little As One Hour
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 10, 2006) Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. (NYSE: FNT), the nation's largest title insurance company and a majority-owned, publicly traded subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), today announced a strategic partnership with automated title software and service provider NextAceSM to significantly improve delivery speed of title reports.
With NextAce's Title EDGESM "software as a service" (SaaS) offering, FNT's five leading title insurance underwriters Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Ticor Title, Security Union Title and Alamo Title will be able to reduce the time to deliver a title report from approximately 48 hours to as little as one hour.
"By automating the title process, Title EDGE offers a powerful technology solution that will significantly enhance our ability to create new levels of speed and efficiency in the title process," said Randy Quirk, FNT's Chief Executive Officer.
Title insurance protects lenders and anyone purchasing or refinancing property against any known or unknown title defects. Lenders need quick, efficient searches of property titles provided through a preliminary title report or commitment to reach loan decisions. Through software automation and smart market partnerships with lenders, escrow companies and title branches, NextAce is able to reduce the production time and cost associated with preliminary title reports and commitments by eliminating hours of manual labor and reducing overhead costs for every order processed through Title EDGE. As a result, the closing process becomes faster, simpler and more cost-efficient.
"We are honored to be a strategic partner with the industry's largest title insurance company," said NextAce CEO Don Cantral. "With Title EDGE, Fidelity National Title Group and its customers are assured improved order turn times, lower costs and greater accuracy. Fidelity National Title Group's adoption of this software service is a strong indicator of the significant impact automation is having on the title industry."
About Fidelity National Title Group, Inc.
Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. (NYSE: FNT) is the nation's largest title insurance company. The Company's title insurance underwriters Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Ticor Title, Security Union Title and Alamo Title issue approximately 31 percent of all title insurance policies in the United States. Through its direct operations and agencies, the Company provides title insurance in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. In 2005, FNT also acquired Service Link, a leading provider of title and closing services to major financial institutions and lenders, including six of the top 10 lending institutions in the United States ranked by loan origination volume. More information about Fidelity National Title Group can be found at www.fntg.com. FNT is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF), number 248 on the Fortune 500 and a provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to a variety of industries. 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 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: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; 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; compliance with extensive regulations; regulatory investigations of the title insurance industry; our business concentration in the State of California, the source of over 20% of our title insurance premiums; our dependence on distributions from our title insurance underwriters as our main source of cash flow; competition from other title insurance companies; FNF's need to maintain more than 80% ownership of our common stock for various tax purposes; 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.
About NextAce
NextAceSM is a privately held technology company that provides software and services primarily to the title insurance and mortgage lender industries. Recently awarded the 2006 Pasadena Entretec PricewaterhouseCooopers Entrepreneurship Award for entrepreneurial vigor and business achievements, the company's Title EDGE SM process was established in 2003 to assist title companies in streamlining the production of preliminary reports and commitments. Title EDGE is currently used by title companies servicing 38 California counties and counties in five other states, including: Arizona, Florida, New York, Texas, and Washington. Additional information on NextAce can be found at www.nextace.com.
SOURCE: Fidelity National Title Group, Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, Fidelity National Financial, Inc., 904-854-8120, dkmurphy@fnf.com