Last year, Fidelity National Financial and Stewart Information Services, two of the nation’s largest title insurance providers, nearly merged in a deal that would have seen Fidelity buy Stewart for $1.2 billion.
But the deal was eventually called off after the Federal Trade Commission moved to block the deal.
But from the “if you can’t buy ’em, hire ’em” category, Fidelity is tapping one of Stewart’s former executives to help lead the nationwide expansion of one of its title brands.
Fidelity National Financial announced Wednesday that it hired John Magness as its executive vice president, and executive vice president of Alamo Title Company.
Magness brings over three decades of experience from the title insurance and real estate industries.
Most notable among that experience was Magness’ time at Stewart Title.
Prior to taking the job at Alamo, Magness served as group president at Stewart Title, in charge of all U.S. direct title operations. At one time, Magness also held the role of chief corporate development officer for Stewart.
Prior to Stewart, Magness served as president of Old Republic Title, where he led all revenue producing efforts for direct and agency operations, commercial operations, technical service operations, and entities in the title group.
With the move to Fidelity, Magness will have now worked for three of the big four title insurers in the nation, with only First American Title Insurance Company missing from his resume.
In his new role with Fidelity, Magness will “lead the operational expansion and growth of Alamo Title Company in Texas and across the United States,” the company said in a statement.
According to the company’s website, Alamo currently has 12 branches in the state of Texas, but the Fidelity appears to have big plans for Alamo’s future.
“We are thrilled to add John Magness to our leadership team here at FNF. We have competed against John for many years and have watched him successfully lead large operations for decades,” said Mike Nolan, president of Fidelity National Financial. “It is exciting to envision the growth in our Alamo Title brand through John’s leadership, expertise, and experience.”
