In Brief: 1st American Financial Closes Prudential Deal

First American Financial Corp. has completed its acquisition of Prudential Insurance Company of America's residential loan servicing unit.

Terms were not disclosed.

The unit, Excelis Mortgage Loan Servicing, was sold as part of the exit of once-giant Prudential from the home loan business.

In purchasing Excelis, First American executives said they were acquiring an operation that has not been profitable in recent quarters.

But First American, a supplier of real estate services, expects the situation to change within the next 12 to 18 months.

The cost of merging Excelis into First American could initially produce small losses, said First American president Parker S. Kennedy.

"But we expect to see this business become a substantial contributor to our revenue base over time," Mr. Kennedy said.

In fact, First American was attracted by the ongoing income that Excelis can supply, Mr. Kennedy said. "We anticipate that when Excelis is fully integrated into our operations, it will provide a steady revenue stream from loan servicing contracts even when mortgage originations are on the decline."

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