Deal dead; firm’s future precarious (LandAmerica *isn't* being bought now)

[underpants]

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Published: November 23, 2008

There is no Thanksgiving for LandAmerica Financial Corp. this year.

The corporate shell that was to have transferred the venerable Henrico County-based insurer to a Florida competitor was to be called Thanksgiving Corp.

The Nov. 7 merger agreement with Fidelity National Financial Inc. had offered LandAmerica a way out of a financial jam caused by the housing market collapse that has already taken down several financial giants. For $128 million, Fidelity would have acquired a competitor that had $3.7 billion in revenue last year.

The deal broke down Friday night when Fidelity, which had a due-diligence period to examine LandAmerica's books, opted out.

So far this year, revenue from title insurance fell 30 percent. The company slashed its second-biggest expense for the business -- salaries and benefits -- by even more with a 33 percent cut reflecting the more than 11,400 layoffs it made this year. All told, the company now has about 9,270 employees, about 5,260 fewer than at the beginning of 2007.

Read more: http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/LAND23_20081122-212729/119451/

[Demeter]

1. Another "Turkey" Slaughtered