FirstAm to Buy Basis 100

In a move to become the No. 1 supplier of automated valuation models, the First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has announced that it will acquire Basis100 Inc. in a cash deal valued at $33 million.The First American announcement notes that the AVM market has doubled each year for the last three years and estimates that 25% of mortgage loans qualify for an AVM in lieu of a standard appraisal. First American said it expects to benefit from significant cost synergies over the next six months that will result in total pretax earnings of $10 million on an annualized basis. The acquisition of Basis100 is expected to close in the third quarter after shareholder approval. The companies can be found online at http://www.firstam.com and http://www.basis100.com.