Fidelity National to Sell Unit in Stock Swap

IRVINE — Fidelity National Financial Inc. said Friday that it has agreed to sell a wholly owned subsidiary to a Tustin firm in a $6.9-million stock swap that will give it a 74% stake in the purchaser.

Fidelity will move its ACS Systems Inc., an escrow software developer, to Micro General Corp. for 4.6 million shares of Micro General, a company in which Fidelity already has a 37.5% stake.

The deal is subject to an opinion from an independent third party on the fairness of the transaction.

Micro General is developing a tamper-proof postage meter, but Fidelity, the nation’s fourth-largest title insurer, believes the ACS software products will create more demand than the postage meter, said Allen D. Meadows, Fidelity’s chief financial officer.

“This deal will provide a separate identity for ACS so it can appeal to a broader market,” Meadows said. “ACS will be the major operating component of Micro General.”

The transaction also is expected to reduce certain expenses, he said.