FNF to Buy Flood Insurance Biz

Fidelity National Financial Inc., Irvine, Calif., has announced an agreement to acquire the flood insurance business of Omaha Property and Casualty Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha.The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction involves more than 220,000 flood insurance policies originated through 6,000 independent agents under the National Flood Insurance Program. "This acquisition expands our penetration in the flood insurance business and makes us the nation's largest flood insurance company," said William P. Foley II, FNF's chairman and chief executive officer. "Flood insurance provides a recurring stream of revenue and earnings that is not solely dependent on the mortgage origination cycle, and the federal government retains the risk associated with potential claims." In addition to the flood insurance business, FNF said it obtained the rights to offer renewal to OPAC's personal lines policyholders. FNF can be found online at http://www.fnf.com.