$1.2B Deal Creates Largest U.S. Title Insurer.

National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, August, 1999 by SCLAFANE, SUSANNE

In a line of insurance where the top six companies command 90 percent of the market, two of them--Fidelity National Financial Inc. and Chicago Title Corp.--have announced a $1.2 billion deal that will create the largest player in the title insurance world. Noting that the merger now puts the market in the hands of only five insurers, John Keefe, an analyst for Ferris Baker Watts in Baltimore, said the combination of Irvine, Calif.-based Fidelity National and Chicago Title was not a surprise.

"Size and scale have become more and more important in this industry," he said, noting that Fidelity, which was the fourth-largest title insurer prior to the deal, has become number one "in one stroke." Absent an acquisition, they could not have broken into the top...

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