Santa Ana-based CoreLogic Inc. has opted against moving ahead on a potential sale, a decision that’s not being taken well by one of the largest institutional investors of the real estate data and analytics company.
CoreLogic, which emerged as a stand-alone company in mid-2010 following a spinoff from Santa Ana-based title insurance company First American Corp., last summer formed an independent committee to explore strategic options, including a potential sale or merger.
CoreLogic said on Monday that the committee had concluded its review of strategic alternatives and decided to stay the course rather than put itself on the sales block.
The company’s current business plan offers “greater potential for stockholder value creation than any of the other alternatives,” said D. Van Skilling, CoreLogic’s chairman, in a statement.
“The company entered 2012 with excellent momentum, with improved market performance and the successful execution of its cost reduction programs,” Skilling said. “The company is optimistic about its prospects for the coming year.”
Boston-based Highfields Capital Management LP, which owned about 7.7% of the company’s stock at the end of 2011, isn’t as optimistic.
“We are very disappointed that the CoreLogic management and board have once again failed to generate value for shareholders,” Highfields chief executive Jonathon Jacobson said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Given its history of mismanagement, CoreLogic requires a change in leadership,” Jacobson said.
Shares of CoreLogic, which also announced its fourth-quarter earnings late on Monday, were up about 4% Tuesday in mid-day trading. The company counts a market value of about $1.6 billion.
CoreLogic provides a variety of consumer, financial and property data to lenders, corporations and government agencies.