FT Partners Advises Lennar on the Sale of North American Title to States Title
Overview of Transaction
- On December 6, 2018, Lennar Corporation (“Lennar”) announced its wholly-owned subsidiary North American Title Group (NATG) plans to combine its underwriter and the majority of its retail title business with States Title
- States Title has acquired NATG’s underwriter, North American Title Insurance Company (NATIC), and a majority of the retail business of NATG's national title agency, North American Title Company (NATC)
- The newly combined company will continue to operate under the North American Title brand led by States Title CEO, Max Simkoff, and Lennar has assumed a substantial minority equity ownership stake
- NATC’s builder business and a portion of its retail business remains with Lennar and operates as CalAtlantic Title, while around two-thirds of NATG’s current associates have been transferred to States Title
- Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) is one of the nation’s leading builders of quality homes
- States Title is a San Francisco-based title insurance and escrow platform that uses predictive analytics to streamline the underwriting, settlement, and closing processes of purchasing a home
- North American Title Group (NATG) is one of the largest real estate settlement service providers in the U.S.
- The deal received regulatory approval and became effective on January 7th, 2019
Significance of Transaction
- The combination accelerates the growth of States Title and its vision, enabling the Company to better serve home buyers and sellers across the U.S. by leveraging its proprietary technology and analytics to create a modern real estate closing experience
- The transaction is consistent with Lennar’s strategy to align itself with leading technology innovators in order to streamline and enhance the overall customer experience
FT Partners' Role
- FT Partners served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Lennar
- FT Partners also recently advised Lennar on its co-lead investment in home insurance innovator Hippo’s $70 million financing round
- This transaction underscores FT Partners' deep FinTech expertise and its continued success in providing advisory services to world class organizations