LandAmerica Financial Group has augmented its presence in Colorado with its recent deal for Ten Mile Title Inc.
LandAmerica of Richmond, Va., bought the title insurance company through its LandAmerica Lawyers Title subsidiary. Ten Mile Title has offices in Breckenridge and Dillon and revenues of about $1.5 million annually.
G. William Evans, an executive vice president and the chief financial officer of LandAmerica Financial, said the company already had a large presence in Denver and Colorado Springs and is now "filling out the perimeter around the Denver area, expanding into some of the smaller, more outlying counties."
In March, the company bought Weld County Title Co. in Greeley, Colo.
Having local offices is important in the title insurance business, Mr. Evans said, because homebuyers want to be able to close their purchases at a site convenient to them.
"The very fabric of the real estate business is local," Mr. Evans said.
Elizabeth A. Tovar, the founder of Ten Mile, is joining LandAmerica as its Summit County manager. Her focus is to be on expanding the business, according to LandAmerica.
Mr. Evans said Ten Mile would use its own name, with Land-America "as an overbrand."
"It's very typical that an operation has developed some market recognition," he said, especially with the real estate agents, lawyers, and others who would refer clients to the company. LandAmerica wants to capitalize on Ten Mile's name recognition in its area of operation, he said.
The deal was announced Friday but closed at the end of July. The price was not disclosed.
LandAmerica sells a variety of real estate transaction services, including title insurance through its subsidiaries Commonwealth Land Title Insurance, Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Transnation Title Insurance Co., Land- America OneStop, and Inspecttech, which have more than 700 offices in the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
