$1.3 billion deal will create nation's largest homebuilder. Both companies are major players in the Charlotte area.
NEW YORK Pulte Homes Inc. is buying Centex Corp. for $1.3 billion in stock in a deal that will create the nation's largest homebuilder and could spark further consolidation in an industry that is suffering the worst real estate recession in a generation.
The transaction of the homebuilders – both major players in the Charlotte region – will combine Pulte's strength in active-adult and retirement housing with Centex's hefty market share of first-time homebuyers.
The acquisition also will give Pulte large tracts of land in Texas and the Carolinas, two of the most resilient real estate markets, and a presence in 29 states and Washington, D.C.
The new company, which also will include the Del Webb, DiVosta and Fox & Jacobs brand homes, will keep the Pulte name and headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. There will be an unspecified number of job cuts.
“It allows us to not only survive, but thrive in any economic climate,” said Richard Dugas Jr., Pulte's president and chief executive, who will retain those titles over the combined enterprise.
Pulte had the largest market share in the eight-county Charlotte region in the fourth quarter of 2008, and the second-largest for the whole year, with 9 percent of all single-family detached homes, residential real estate consultant Chuck Graham said. Centex ended last year with the fifth-largest market share in the region, 5 percent of single-family detached homes. That was up from about 4 percent for the rest of 2008, Graham said. In Mecklenburg, the builder had 203 permits in 2008, the most of any builder.
But by last year, Centex was already pulling back in the Charlotte area, combining its Charlotte and Raleigh offices in Raleigh and maintaining a minimal staff in Charlotte, Graham said. Pulte, on the other hand, was poised for growth in the region, particularly with its acquisition of Del Webb, meant to cater to the surging active-adult population, he said.
Wednesday's deal touched off investors speculation that other homebuilders with battered stock prices may be easy targets.
Faced with a 75 percent slide in new-home sales from the peak in mid-2005, homebuilders have slashed construction and prices but have been slow to join forces.
This deal “is a game-changer, pure and simple,” said Centex Chairman and Chief Executive Timothy Eller, who will become Pulte's vice chairman and will work as a consultant for two years following the acquisition's completion.
The combined company will have twice the revenue of its next largest rival, D.R. Horton Inc. Pulte and Centex pulled in a total of $11.6 billion in the last 12 months, compared with D.R. Horton's $5.8 billion.
The new industry behemoth also will be better poised to take advantage of the market's recovery, which executives said is just beginning.
Pulte lost almost $3.73 billion over the past two years, more than wiping out all of its profits for the prior three years. Centex lost $2.66 billion last year, erasing its earnings for the prior four years.
Shares in both companies have lost more than half their value from their 52-week highs last year.
Pulte is offering Centex shareholders 0.975 shares of its common stock for each share of Centex that they own. The transaction is valued at $10.50 per Centex share based on Pulte's Tuesday closing stock price of $10.77. That represents a 38 percent premium to Centex's closing price of $7.62 Tuesday.
Staff Writer Kirsten Valle contributed
EW YORK Pulte Homes Inc. is buying Centex Corp. for $1.3 billion in stock in a deal that w
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