Chicago Title Acquires 2 Ventura County Firms

Chicago Title Co. has acquired two Ventura County escrow firms within the past two weeks and is now the county’s largest escrow operation, Chicago Title officials report.

The acquired companies are Bryson Escrow Inc., which has four offices in the county, and Townsgate Escrow Inc., which has two locations in Ventura County and two in the Antelope Valley. Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

Chicago, which had two escrow offices in the county prior to the purchases, now has eight units and 140 employees countywide, said Larri Jones, Chicago Title vice president and manager of its Ventura County operations. He said all of the offices will operate under the Chicago Title name.

“There’s a consolidation trend throughout the escrow industry,” Jones said. “The larger, stronger firms will survive.”

He predicted that home sales in the county will continue their yearlong comeback, but said commercial property sales have not been as strong as expected.

Kim and Richard Bryson will continue to manage Bryson Escrow, which has locations in Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ojai, Jones said.

He added that Michael Feldman, former owner of Townsgate, will continue to head the former Townsgate operations in Simi Valley, Westlake Village and the Antelope Valley.

Chicago’s original offices in the county were in Ventura and the Westlake area of Thousand Oaks. The firm’s national headquarters is in Chicago; its Ventura County base is in Ventura.