US buyout groups Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H Lee are buying a 25 percent interest in Fidelity Information Services, a subsidiary of Florida-based title insures Fidelity National Financial (FNF).
The deal is part of a recapitalisation of the information services business valuing it at $4.8 billion including debt.
Prior to agreeing to acquire the stake, Dallas-based TPG and Boston-headquartered TH Lee reportedly considered buying all of FNF which has a market capitalisation of over $7 billion. According to the Financial Times, had that purchase gone ahead, it would have been the largest private equity transaction in the US in 2004.
FNF is a Fortune 500 company providing products and services to financial institutions and the real estate industry. In 2003, the company turned over more than $7.7 billion and earned over $860 million, according to its website.