North American Title Sold by Glenfed

Glenfed Inc., the parent of the country’s fourth-largest savings and loan, said Friday that it had sold its North American Title Co. subsidiary to its former owner as part of a restructuring that will return Glenfed to its basic savings and loan business.

Glenfed did not disclose terms of the sale to North American Asset Development Co., which was formed by Dan R. Wentzel, one of North American’s founders, and Gerald B. Beeny, its current president. Glenfed acquired the company from Wentzel and three other owners in 1986 and merged it with American Title in 1988.

Glenfed’s sale of North American, which has remained profitable during the economic slowdown, was driven by a decision to concentrate on its “core” business, Glenfed President Keith P. Russell Jr. said.

Glenfed announced its strategic shift in January when it reported a $140.8-million fourth-quarter loss. Russell linked the quarterly loss to an increase in problem assets at Glendale Federal Bank, which last year joined the growing list of financial companies with commercial real estate problems.

“You’re seeing most major financial institutions pursuing a back-to-the-basics strategy,” Russell said. “It’s just easier to focus on a few things and do them better.”

Glenfed had previously sold a Fresno-based real estate brokerage firm. It also is liquidating three divisions: Glenfed Development, a home-building division with about $300 million in assets, and Glenfed Financial and Glenfed Capital, divisions with combined assets of about $700 million that made business loans.

The North American sale accounted for about 1,000 of the 1,800 positions that Glenfed hopes to eliminate during its restructuring. An additional 600 to 800 positions will be trimmed during an “internal restructuring and reorganization of Glendale Federal Bank,” Russell said.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based North American, which provides title and escrow services to the real estate industry, has 70 offices in California. Beeny, who joined North American as president in January, will retain that title and manage the company’s Southern California operations.

North American, with 1,024 employees, reported $82 million in gross revenue during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1990.

Wentzel, the new chairman, is “very bullish” about the California real estate market. The company is “running at late-1989, early-1990 levels . . . (which is) a lot better than the third and fourth quarter of last year. . . . Our projections for the next fiscal year beginning July 1 are relatively good.”