Thomas Lee Looking at Fidelity Nat'l?

Thomas H. Lee, the Boston-based investor who made a killing by selling HomeSide Lending, is eyeing Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla., the nation's largest title insurance firm.According to a report in the The New York Times, Mr. Lee's Thomas H. Lee Partners and another firm, Texas Pacific Group, are contemplating buying a stake in Fidelity or purchasing the company outright. At MortgageWire's deadline, THLP and TPG could not be reached for comment. A Fidelity spokesman declined to comment. One investment banker familiar with Mr. Lee said, "For him to buy a stake must mean he thinks the company is undervalued." Late last year, THLP made a large investment in ResMAE, Brea, Calif., an upstart nonconforming lender founded by three former Long Beach Mortgage executives. (The size of the investment has never been disclosed.) As of Wednesday, Fidelity National (stock symbol: FNF) had a market capitalization of $7.5 billion.

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