|
SEDGWICK CMS AND FNF ANNOUNCE THE ACQUISITION OF VPA, INC.
May 2006
Memphis, Tenn. and Jacksonville, Fla., May 16,
2006 – Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.
(Sedgwick CMS), the leading provider of innovative claims and
productivity management solutions, and Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
(NYSE:FNF), along with their partners Thomas H. Lee Partners and Evercore
Capital Partners, today announced that Sedgwick CMS has acquired VPA, Inc.
(VPA), a privately-held Calabasas, California-based claims services
organization specializing in absence and disability benefit management programs
for large employers. VPA has annual revenue of approximately $20 million.
VPA has built and maintained national business
relationships through its expertise in the design and administration of complex
short-term and long-term disability, family and medical leave and other
customized absence management plans.
Established in 1979 with an initial focus on California State Disability
Insurance (SDI) programs, the firm became well known under the leadership of
industry pioneer Jack Bredehorn (1933 – 2003) for helping clients reduce
absenteeism and control losses.
“VPA
enjoys an exceptional reputation for the quality of its services and the
technical expertise of its people,” said Sedgwick CMS President and Chief
Executive Officer David A. North. “The strategic fit between the two
organizations will enrich our offerings to clients. VPA’s focus on disability and absence management programs for large
employers will reinforce the fastest growing component of our business, and
their longstanding involvement with self-insured SDI programs will
significantly enhance Sedgwick CMS’s capabilities in that area of
specialization. Furthermore, both of our cultures emphasize commitment to clients and to colleagues. We are very pleased to welcome the outstanding VPA team to Sedgwick
CMS.”
“We are excited to add further strategic
capabilities to our industry-leading platform at Sedgwick CMS,” said FNF
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William P. Foley, II. “We have stated goals of seeing Sedgwick CMS reach a revenue base of $1
billion over the next eighteen to twenty four months and maximizing the value
of Sedgwick CMS for our shareholders.
This acquisition of VPA is another milestone in our efforts to reach those
goals.”
The VPA organization will be integrated into
Sedgwick CMS and will operate under the Sedgwick CMS identity. VPA Vice President of Operations Julie Santen will be vice president and operations manager for the new Sedgwick
CMS office in Calabasas.
Sedgwick
Claims Management Services, Inc. is the leading provider of innovative
claims and productivity management solutions.
Sedgwick CMS delivers cost-effective claims administration, managed care,
program management and related services to major employers through the
expertise of 4,500 colleagues in more than eighty offices in the U.S. and
Canada.The company specializes in
workers’ compensation; disability, FMLA and other employee absence; and
general, automobile and professional liability claims services. Sedgwick CMS designs and implements customized programs based on proven
practices that meet client needs.For
more see www.sedgwickcms.com.
Fidelity
National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) ,
number 248 on the Fortune 500, is a
provider of outsourced products and services to a variety of industries. Through its majority-owned, publicly-traded subsidiary, Fidelity
National Title Group, Inc. (NYSE:FNT), FNF is the nation’s largest title
insurance company, with nearly 31 percent national market share. Through its majority-owned, publicly-traded subsidiary, Fidelity
National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS), FNF provides an industry
leading suite of data processing, payment and risk management services to
financial institutions and retailers.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, FNF is also a leading provider of
specialty insurance products, including flood insurance, homeowners insurance
and home warranty insurance.Through
its minority-owned subsidiary, Sedgwick CMS, FNF is a leading provider of
outsourced insurance claims management services to large corporate and public
sector entities.More information
about the FNF family of companies can be found at www.fnf.com,
www.fntg.com and
www.fidelityinfoservices.com and
www.sedgwickcms.com
This press release contains forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that
are not historical facts, including statements about FNF’s beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
based on FNF management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and
information currently available to, management. Because such statements are
based on expectations as to future economic performance and are not statements
of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. FNF
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking statements are subject
to include, but are not limited to: changes in general economic, business and
political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; adverse
changes in the level of real estate activity, which may be caused by, among
other things, high or increasing interest rates, a limited supply of mortgage
funding or a weak U. S. economy; FNF’s potential inability to find suitable
acquisition candidates, acquisitions in lines of business that will not
necessarily be limited to its traditional areas of focus, or difficulties in
integrating acquisitions; FNF’s dependence on operating subsidiaries as a
source of cash flow; significant competition that FNF’s operating subsidiaries
face; compliance with extensive government regulation of FNF’s operating
subsidiaries; and other risks detailed in the “Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Information,” “Risk Factors” and other sections of FNF’s Form
10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sources:
Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. and Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
Contacts:
Sedgwick CMS - Frank J. Huffman, Senior Vice President, Corporate
Communications, (901) 415-7548, fhuffman@sedgwickcms.com;
FNF - Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor
Relations, 904-854-8120, dkmurphy@fnf.com
|