Facing limited growth opportunities in his main business – title insurance – Fidelity National Financial (FNF) Chairman William Foley II has a plan to boost his company’s revenue: sell “chicken bacon bleu” sandwiches and tenderloin beef carpaccio. On Feb. 6 the insurer agreed to buy O’Charley’s (CHUX), a casual-dining chain with more than 340 locations, for about $200 million by purchasing the shares of the company it didn’t already own.
Fidelity National got into the food business in 2009, when it formed American Blue Ribbon Holdings to invest in two troubled restaurant chains, Village Inn and Bakers Square. The next year, American Blue Ribbon bought the Max & Erma’s chain out of bankruptcy. Fidelity National has said that adding O’Charley’s, which operates under its namesake brand, as well as Stoney River Legendary Steaks and Ninety Nine, will allow it to cut costs.