Fidelity National Financial's new MLS information management spin-off, Fidelity National Information Solutions, folds in two more subsidiaries from the parent, making FNIS pull out the chair for one out of every two Realtor seats. Further, the combined offerings should turn competitors into customers.

The two new FNIS holdings are RISCO and REEZ. RISCO, says the company, was the number three MLS information service provider in the marketplace, and a specialist in browser-server (Internet-based) MLS systems. The other new sibling is REEZ, a transaction management provider.

Now let's put those pieces together with the other FNIS holdings and see what we have.

Fidelity National Financial is the largest provider of title insurance and real estate related products and services, with five major regional and national brands under its wing - Chicago Title, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, Alamo Title, Security Union, and Ticor Title (western region) giving it approximately 30 percent market share nationally in title services, says the company.

Under its new spinoff FNIS, FNF has combined the assets and operations of:

• IDM Corp., - tax assessor records, public deeds
• Market Intelligence, Inc. - appraisals
• Fidelity National Credit Services - credit analysis services
• Fidelity National Tax Service - property tax services
• Fidelity National Flood Services - flood insurance, risk assessment services
• REEZ - open architecture transaction management system (not proprietary)
• VISTAfinfo - MLS services for mid-size to large MLSs, environmental disclosure services, agent productivity software
• RISCO - MLS services for small to mid-size MLSs

By contributing key pieces of its business at cost or near cost, and some at a loss, and rolling them into a new company with other key acquisitions, Fidelity owns 80 percent of FNIS stock. What is FNIS when you put the pieces together? The largest database of property information in the U.S. On an open architecture transaction management system, principals to the real estate transaction will be able to access MLS data, residential property tax services, consumer mortgage credit analysis, flood insurance determinations, automated to full-site appraisals and products derived from a national real estate information database.

How will they make money? Every person involved in a property transaction takes risks, from the consumer to the lender, to Realtors, to title insurers, to others - and they all want to minimize risk to close a transaction.

"Each business is built into a product," says Eric Swenson, COO of FNIS, "like the VISTAinfo disclosure products in California. IDM has a product called SiteX, an online product that is sold to title companies, realtors, lenders, and consumers. We also sell information in bulk to companies who might compete in these arenas.

But before this substantial one-stop-shop can be leveraged, the company has to get by its own debt restructuring.

The company has approved a refinancing plan that will "consolidate all of the Company's outstanding debt and preferred stock securities and take advantage of discount purchases of these securities by FNF, resulting in debt reduction and annual interest savings of approximately $9.5 million and $800,000 respectively, strengthening the company's financial standing and increasing free cash flow."

But Wall Street, who loves the biggest gorilla in the space, hasn't quite seen through the mist. With a reverse seven-to-one stock split for VISTAinfo shareholders who own 20 percent of the new company, FNIS is now trading on the NASDAQ for just under $8 a share. The company has issued forward looking statements that it expects to have first-year annual revenue of approximately $230 million.

Published: August 10, 2001

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.