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Local title company to shut down(Bakersfield Californian, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 12--The local office of Alliance Title, a California title company, is shutting down as of 5 p.m. Thursday along with all of Alliance's California operations, an official said Wednesday. In Kern County, 36 people will likely lose their jobs, said Brynn Powers, vice president/general manager of Bakersfield operations. The closure is not due to local economic conditions, he said. He said the local branch is financially healthy and had good market share. Powers said he couldn't speak to company finances at higher levels. Alliance Title has an agreement with First American Title to handle the files they have here, Powers said. A reporter's call to Alliance's corporate office in Campbell, a city in Santa Clara County, was immediately referred to its legal division at a separate number with an Oakland area code. At that number, a woman's voice mailbox picked up after about 15 minutes on hold; no one returned the call as of 5:30 p.m.. Alliance's Web site says the company operates in 34 California counties, mostly in the Bay Area and further south. Alliance is a wholly owned subsidiary of Denver-based Mercury Companies Inc., the Web site says. State business records show Mercury does business in California under the name Lakewood Holdings Inc. Hoover's Online, a business information Web site, describes Mercury as a family owned real estate services company with operations mostly California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. The 61-year-old company has nearly 7,000 employees, according to Hoover's, and has annual sales of about $1 billion. Mercury's flagship operation, according to Hoover's, is Financial Title Co. To see more of The Bakersfield Californian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bakersfield.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Bakersfield Californian Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |