RESIDENTIAL
When First American Corp. bought Sacramento’s CoreLogic Systems Inc. in early 2007, the $100 million plus stock deal was said to be the biggest acquisition that the Santa Ana-based company had struck in its 120-year history.
First American got more than a mortgage-focused software company in the acquisition. It also picked up a name that’s set to get a lot more local attention in the next few months.
First American is preparing to rename itself CoreLogic Inc. upon completion of the long-planned split of its core title insurance business and the company’s faster growing information services operations.
The planned name change was disclosed in a proxy statement filed earlier this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in preparation for a May 18 shareholder meeting that’ll likely serve as a prelude to the spinoff.
The spinoff, in the works for nearly two years, is expected to be completed this June.
Although it’s the larger of the two business units, First American’s title operations is the business technically being spun off in the transaction.
That new company, which will remain in Santa Ana, will operate under the First American Financial Corp. name. The rights to the “First American” name are being transferred to that company.
The remaining information services business already started incorporating the CoreLogic name.
After buying CoreLogic Systems—a provider of housing mortgage risk management and fraud protection technology—in 2007, the company renamed that division First American CoreLogic.
The forthcoming name change “aligns with the company’s expected future branding strategy,” First American said in its proxy statement.
“Some of the company’s products are already well recognized under the ‘CoreLogic’ brand, and the company will be migrating several of its other businesses under this brand as well,” First American’s proxy statement said.
The spinoff comes as First American’s stock’s been on an upswing, adding nearly $1 billion in market value to the company in the past year. It’s now valued at about $3.7 billion, according to a recent check.
Analysts estimate CoreLogic to have a value of about $1.3 billion after the spinoff, while First American Financial would be worth nearly $2.4 billion.
The company is expected to report its first-quarter earnings on Thursday.
Sycamore Deals
Irvine’s Sycamore Urban Properties, an investment and development company, has taken over a mothballed condominium project in West Hollywood with an eye on finishing the project this summer.
SUP Alfred 18 LLC, an entity that counts Sycamore as its managing partner, took over an 18-unit, partially built complex on Alfred Street after purchasing the note to the property from the lender.
Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. Sycamore said it closed the transaction in less than a week.
A small private developer started building the condos in 2006 but halted construction in mid-2009 with only 65% of the project complete, according to Sycamore. The new owners said the condos will be completed and available for sale this summer.
It’s the third acquisition by Sycamore, which was formed in 2008. Other deals the company’s made are for a 41-home project in Rancho Cucamonga and a home and land deal in Apple Valley.
The company said it plans to acquire 1,000 to 2,000 additional units in the next two to three years, and it is currently eyeing more than $500 million of distressed properties and bank loans.
REDC Closing
Irvine-based home and commercial property auctioneer Real Estate Disposition LLC is moving ahead in its plans to add a title insurance operation to its business.
The company, which operates under the REDC name, has closed on its acquisition of the retail operations of Commerce Title in Ohio, Texas and Nevada.
The business was acquired from Michigan-based Pulte Homes Inc. in a deal announced last November.
REDC still is awaiting regulatory approval for the acquisition of Commerce Title’s Arizona and California retail operations.
The company plans to expand operations into 18 states during the next year.
COMMERCIAL
Aero Dynamic Machining Inc., a Garden Grove manufacturer of aerospace parts, is expanding its business after buying another industrial building in its hometown.
The company, which makes precision parts for the airline industry and other commercial uses, bought a 50,625-square-foot industrial building at 7472 Chapman Ave. The price was about $4.1 million, or $80 per square foot.
Aero Dynamic, which was founded in 1998, said it’s keeping its existing 30,000-square-foot building on Monarch Street in Garden Grove.
Jackie Nguyen of Union Pacific Realty represented the buyer in the transaction, while Clyde Stauff of the Irvine office of Colliers International represented the sellers, private investors David and Faith Grant.
