TRW Unit in O.C. Will Be Sold to Investment Group

ORANGE —  TRW Inc. said Wednesday that it will sell its Credentials credit reporting service to a New York-based investment group.

Lincolnshire Equity Fund L.P. agreed to buy the service from TRW’s Orange-based division, TRW Information Systems & Services, for an undisclosed amount.

Operations began Tuesday under the company’s new name, Credentials Services International Inc., which has headquarters in Orange. Neither TRW nor John Ferry, Credentials’ chief executive officer, would disclose the number of TRW workers hired to run the new company, but said that they will be staying at their present locations in Orange and Allen, Tex.

TRW’s existing credit operations, employing more than 1,000 people, will remain in Orange.

Credentials began in 1985 and is a membership service in which consumers pay $29 to $44 annually to be kept apprised of changes in their credit record. Members have unlimited access to their TRW credit report and are notified when anyone gets a copy or when negative information is added to the report. As of July, the service had 700,000 members.

Credentials Services International Inc. will continue to rely on credit information provided by TRW. TRW spokeswoman Janis Lamar said that Credentials is not being spun off as part of a divestiture plan, but rather so that TRW could concentrate on its business and government customers.