Fidelity Prepares to Separate Title, Technology Units.(Fidelity National Financial Inc.)

Jacksonville, FL -- The ever-changing corporate structure at Fidelity National Financial Inc. here will be changing once again.

It has sent a proposal to two related firms that would result in the creation of two independent public companies. The other firms involved, both of which the current FNF owns a majority share of, are Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which trades under the ticker symbol FIS, and Fidelity National Title Inc., which trades under the ticker symbol FNT.

The stock price of FNF was the major beneficiary of the announcement. Late in the afternoon on April 27, the day of the announcement, it was up $7.31 on the day to $42.30. FNT was up only $0.13 to $22.23, while FIS saw its stock price drop by $1.49 to $37.30.

In the past, Fidelity had spun off a predecessor of FIS, reconsolidated it back into the parent company, and then spun it off again. Fidelity's Mortgage Servicing Package, used by many large lenders, is part of the FIS unit.

It was just one year ago that FNF announced it was looking to create FNT.

At that time, William P. Foley, chairman and chief executive of FNF and chairman of FIS and FNT, said, "We believe that it has been difficult to appreciate the full value of our distinct business lines in a single publicly traded security. Separating the businesses that comprise FNF into distinct companies will provide improved transparency for the investment community and a potentially simpler means of valuing the assets of FNF."

He also added that the spin-off would allow FNF to pursue certain acquisitions.