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Banking/Finance

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Compiled by James S. Granelli,Times staff writer

Firm to Shed Unit: Trying to drum up more interest in its stock, Fidelity National Financial Inc. has decided to get rid of its real estate development subsidiary one way or another.

The unit, Manchester Development Corp., has been acting mainly as builder and manager of properties that its parent company owns, including Fidelity’s headquarters in Irvine. But its activities have been limited.

“It’s more of an irritant to Wall Street than a perceived benefit to the company,” said Frank P. Willey, general counsel of the title insurance firm. “We’ll use the most cost-effective means to dispose of it. We’ll either sell it or spin it off to shareholders.”

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Shareholders, however, may not be too interested in Manchester and would find it difficult to sell the firm’s stock. The unit’s revenue for its last fiscal year, which ended Oct. 31, was only $2.5 million, a small part of Fidelity’s $132 million in overall revenue. Its $200,000 loss didn’t do much damage to Fidelity’s $5 million in earnings.

Willey said the company has not set any target date for disposing of the unit.

Meanwhile, Fidelity’s stock closed Tuesday at $10.50, up 25 cents.

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