Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces the Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives for its Specialty Insurance Business
Jacksonville, Fla. -- (April 24, 2008) -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), a leading provider of title insurance, specialty insurance, claims management services and information services, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized management to investigate strategic alternatives for its Specialty Insurance business. To that end, FNF has retained Bank of America Securities as its adviser in the process. The assets to be evaluated include the flood insurance processing and the "at-risk" personal lines businesses, but not the home warranty company.
FNF is a leading provider of federal flood insurance and a broadly based writer of homeowners, automobile and other personal lines products through its fee-for-service flood insurance business and traditional personal lines insurance business. The two businesses generated $333 million of revenue in 2007 and had GAAP equity of approximately $230 million at December 31, 2007.
"We are focused on evaluating our non-core assets and investments as potential vehicles for creating meaningful liquidity, and we believe our flood and at-risk insurance businesses are an attractive acquisition opportunity for strategic buyers," said Chairman William P. Foley, II.
"Our intent is to use that liquidity to continue to support our dual efforts of maintaining our $1.20 annual cash dividend and repurchasing a significant amount of our outstanding stock."
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 28 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 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; 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.
SOURCE: Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, 904-854-8120, dkmurphy@fnf.com