BANKING

Acquisition Plans: Fidelity National Financial Inc. may some day become the Procter & Gamble of title insurance companies if a tentative deal in Northern California works out.

The Irvine parent company of Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. is negotiating to buy the Bay Area title operations of Continental Lawyers Title Co. of California--a subsidiary of giant Lawyers Title Insurance Co. in Richmond, Va.

If the acquisition goes through--possibly by the end of April--Fidelity will set up the newly acquired offices in six Bay Area counties as a separate company competing with Fidelity offices in the same counties.

The idea would be to have different companies owned by the same parent, much like the detergents Tide, Cheer, Biz, Ivory, Gain, Era, Oxydol and others are products of Procter & Gamble, said William P. Foley II, Fidelity’s president and chief executive.

Title research would be done out of one plant in each county, and Fidelity would underwrite all policies, but different sales forces and, in Northern California, different escrow companies, would compete.

“The plan is to do it in every major metropolitan area if it works in Northern California,” Foley said. Under a letter of intent, Fidelity would pay $1.5 million to $2.5 million and assume certain liabilities to acquire Continental Lawyer assets in San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda, Sacramento and Santa Clara counties.

The companies had expected to reach a final agreement last week, but questions about leases and the assumption of certain liabilities are prolonging the talks, Foley said.

Continental Lawyers, which hasn’t been able to penetrate the market in Northern California as it has in Southern California, will continue to operate in other counties in the state.