Title insurance, mortgage services and diversified services provider Fidelity National Financial (FNF) has signed an agreement to purchase mortgage-services provider Lender Processing Services (LPS), for about $2.9bn.
Under the terms of the accord, LPS will pay half the amount in cash and the rest in FNF stock, subject to some final adjustments.
Scheduled to close during the fourth quarter of 2013, the transaction is subject to shareholders and regulators approval of both the companies.
Following completion of the transaction, Fidelity's ServiceLink business would be merged with Lender Processing in a new holding company.
Fidelity is also planning to sell combined company's 19% minority stake, for about $381m in cash, to private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, while the remaining 81% stake will be retained in the new company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan as well as Credit Suisse Securities and Goldman Sachs served as financial advisers to FNF and LPS respectively.
