Glen Allen-based LandAmerica Financial Group has agreed to be acquired by Fidelity National Financial Inc., one of its principal rivals in the title insurance industry, in a stock deal worth $126 million.
Shareholders of LandAmerica Financial Group, will receive 0.993 shares of FNF common stock for each of their shares. The price represents a premium of about 74.5 percent based on LandAmerica’s closing price of $4.75 on Thursday.
LandAmerica, a real estate transactions company, has laid off more than 1,000 employees in the past year. Its stock has been hammered in recent months because of the slowdown in the housing market, the company recently announced. It is the parent company of Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. Jacksonville-based FNF is the parent company of Chicago Title Insurance Co. Based on the Demotech Performance on Title Insurance Companies 2008 edition, the combined companies will have a pro forma market share of 46 percent.
There are no comments for this entry