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Thu March 28 2024

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Taylor Wimpey sells North American housing business to reduce debt

31 Mar 11 Taylor Wimpey has finally offloaded its North American housebuilding business to an investment consortium after an extensive auction process.

The company has agreed to sell the entire issued share capital of Taylor Woodrow Holdings (USA), Inc. and Taylor Wimpey Holdings of Canada, Corporation to a consortium of investment groups led by TPG Capital, Oaktree Capital Management and JH Investments.

The net cash proceeds of £575m (after £20m of transaction costs) will be used to reduce borrowings, although £32.5m of this will be paid straight into the company’s UK pension fund to reduce its deficit.

Group chief executive Pete Redfern said: “We are delighted to announce the sale of our North American business, which is a significant step towards our goal of becoming a UK focused homebuilder. The sale will provide us with a strengthened balance sheet and increased financial capacity to invest in the UK and to pursue our strategic aims of focusing on margin growth.

“Following a competitive process, we are pleased to have achieved a price that reflects an attractive valuation for this business.”

Taylor Wimpey is the ninth largest homebuilder in the US by revenue. In North America, its main markets are Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, and Ontario. It operates as Taylor Morrison in the USA and as Monarch Homes in Canada.

During 2010, Taylor Morrison completed 2,570 homes in the US, at an average selling price of $274,000. Monarch Homes completed 1,570 homes in Canada in 2010 at an average selling price of CAD 374,000.

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