Real Estate Investors Acquire Near North National Title LLC

A partnership between Sean J. Conlon, one of Chicago’s most renowned real estate entrepreneurs in recent years, and Daniel P. Fowler, a real estate investor and former mergers and acquisitions attorney at Winston & Strawn, has acquired Near North National Title. Near North National Title provides a full range of title and escrow services to clients involved in complex, single- site and multi-site commercial, industrial and residential real estate transactions in North America and other select jurisdictions. The company handles between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in transaction volume per year for commercial and residential real estate developers; real estate corporations; private, corporate and institutional investors; attorneys; and lenders. “Near North Title is a Chicago institution. Since its founding in 1988, it has been a significant player in the commercial and residential markets both locally and nationally. This represents a great opportunity for us, as well as for the company’s loyal clients and employees,” said Mr. Conlon. The new owners intend to grow the business around the existing management team, headed by Cindy O’Donohue, president,and Dennis Kasper, chairman and executive vice president. Kasper is one of Near North National Title’s founding members, and O’Donohue has been with the company since 1994. “The acquisition was critical to the continued success of Near North Title,” said Ms. O’Donohue. “The new ownership not only provides immediate stability through strong financial backing, but also has the vision and energy to support our future growth.”

Near North National Title is known throughout the industry as a boutique firm with an emphasis on highly personalized customer service supported by extensive in-house technology. That platform is not unlike the one upon which Mr. Conlon established Sussex and Reilly, a $2 billion real estate brokerage firm he co-founded in 2000. Sussex & Reilly was the first residential brokerage firm in Chicago to link all of its agents via laptop and wireless handheld computers, and to fully automate back-office functions such as appointment scheduling. “Sean truly revolutionized residential real estate sales in Chicago,” said Fowler. “He set a new standard for what an individual could accomplish in the business, and then he applied that standard to a startup company with the same successful result. It’s that same underlying vision that we want to apply to the title business, and we already have a great foundation in place at Near North.” Added Mr. Kasper, “In our business, clients want to know that the company they’re working with today will be the company they’re working with three, five or ten years down the road. With our new ownership, our future is no longer in question. “We’re grateful for our clients, employees and underwriters who stayed the course during the past three years. Now, we can move on and focus on what we do best,” Mr. Kasper said. For more information about Near North National Title, log onto www.nnnt.com. For more information, call Cindy O’Donohue at (312) 419-3900.