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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

                      PRESS RELEASE dated January 16, 2001

HEADLINE: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Announces Plans For Public Offering
of Common Stock

DATELINE: IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 16

BODY:
Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF), the nation's largest provider of
title insurance and real estate related products and services, today announced
that it plans to make a public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock.
The offering will be made under the Company's effective shelf registration filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering the issuance from time to
time of up to $400 million of various securities of the Company.
The net proceeds from this offering will be used primarily to repay indebtedness
under the Company's existing $800 million syndicated credit agreement. Merrill
Lynch & Co. will serve as the lead manager for the offering, with Bear, Stearns
& Co., Lehman Brothers and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray serving as co-managers.
The underwriters will be granted an over-allotment option of up to 900,000
additional shares. FNF expects to price the equity offering during the week of
January 22, 2001.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these shares in any state in
which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration
or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. A shelf
registration statement relating to the shares that the Company intends to sell
has previously been filed with, and declared effective by, the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Any offer, if at all, will be made only by means of a
prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective
registration statement. Copies of a prospectus with respect to this offering may
be obtained from Merrill Lynch & Co., c/o Prospectus Dept., 4 World Financial
Center, Street Level, New York, NY 10080.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. is the nation's largest title insurance and
diversified real estate related services company. The Company's title insurance
underwriters -- Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Ticor Title, Security
Union Title and Alamo Title -- together issue approximately 30 percent of all
title insurance policies nationally. The company provides title insurance in 49
states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Canada.

In addition, Fidelity, through its principal subsidiaries, performs other real
estate-related services such as escrow, appraisal services, collection and trust
activities, real estate information and technology services, trustee's sale
guarantees, credit reporting, attorney services, flood certifications, real
estate tax services, reconveyances, recordings, foreclosure publishing and
posting services and exchange intermediary services in connection with real
estate transactions. More information about the Company can be found on
Fidelity's website, located at www.fnf.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words "believe,"
"expects," "intend," "anticipate," "will," and "project," and other similar
expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date
the statement was made. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are
inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted
or quantified. Future events and actual results could



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differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the
forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties which forward-looking
statements are subject to include, but are not limited to, the effect of
governmental regulations, competition and other risks detailed from time to time
in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Fidelity National Financial, Inc.

CONTACT: Daniel Kennedy Murphy, Director of Investor Relations, of Fidelity
National Financial, Inc., 805-696-7218, dkmurphy@fnf.com

URL: http://www.prnewswire.com

LOAD-DATE: January 16, 2001