EXHIBIT 99
Contact: Thomas A. Klemens
Executive Vice President
800-854-3643, ext. 7442
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 31, 1998 - The First American Financial Corporation
(NYSE: FAF) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire by
merger Data Tree Corporation, a California company in the business of providing
database management and document imaging systems to county recorders,
governmental agencies and the title industry. Each share of Data Tree stock will
be converted into the right to receive First American stock. The merger must be
approved by the shareholders of Data Tree and is subject to customary closing
conditions, including governmental approvals. This transaction is expected to
close in the next two months, and the company believes it will be accretive to
the earnings of First American Financial. Data Tree will become a part of First
American Real Estate Solutions, LLC, the recently formed venture, owned 80
percent by First American and 20 percent by Experian.
Data Tree has two primary products. Titlescape is a subscription-based,
Windows-compliant software package that combines access to on-line historical
databases of imaged recorded title documents with integration software that
enables customers to combine their processing applications into one system. IDEA
(Indexing Document Extraction Application) is a turnkey imaging and document
management system designed for county recorders and other government agencies.
The system simplifies and expedites the maintenance of documents by allowing the
user to convert paper documents and other input media into electronic images and
then manage the storage, retrieval and routing of these images.
According to President Parker S. Kennedy, This acquisition provides the
assurance that electronic document imaging and retrieval capabilities will be
expanded geographically to meet the needs of our title operations and the title
industry at large.
Through processes that Data Tree has developed we will be able to greatly
accelerate the ability to search title and retrieve recorded documents
electronically from central locations, Kennedy continued. Efficiency gains
resulting from these procedures will work in the long term to assure the ability
of the title industry to keep pace with a rapidly changing marketplace. Harish
Chopra, president of Data Tree, stated: We are pleased to join forces with First
American. Titlescape's land record imaged database will create an important
fully integrated platform to benefit the title industry. This alliance will help
us expand at an accelerated pace to other key population centers around the
country.
Data Tree was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in San Diego,
California, with offices in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Florida.
The First American Financial Corporation, based in Santa Ana, California,
is the nation's leading provider of real estate-related financial and
information services. The corporation's subsidiaries include First American
Title Insurance Company, a national and international title insurer; First
American Real Estate Information Services, Inc., which offers tax monitoring,
credit reporting, property data services, flood certification, field inspection
services, appraisal services, mortgage loan servicing systems, and mortgage
document preparation nationally; First American Home Buyers Protection
Corporation, a home warranty company; and First American Capital Management, an
investment advisory firm. The Corporation also operates First American Trust
Company and First Security Thrift Company in Southern California. First American
Financial has more than 13,000 employees in over 400 branch offices in the
United States and abroad. Information about the company's subsidiaries and an
archive of its press releases can be found at http://www.firstam.com on the
Internet.