Homebuilding giant Lennar Corp. announced it has completed a merger with former rival CalAtlantic Group Inc., creating the nation’s largest homebuilder based on revenues. Both companies’ stockholders this week overwhelmingly approved the actions making CalAtlantic a wholly owned subsidiary of Lennar.
“This combination brought together two leading homebuilders in familiar markets with compatible product lines,” says Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar. “With stable to improving market conditions, this combination enables our company to use local market concentration to drive synergies and efficiencies in the most strategic markets in the country.”
In the most recent fiscal year, Lennar delivered 29,394 single-family homes to market while CalAtlantic delivered 14,602. Lennar will now own or control about 250,000 home sites and will be actively selling homes in about 1,300 residential communities in 21 states. Both companies also provide mortgage financing, title insurance, and closing services to buyers of homes they build as well to others.
When the companies announced the $9.3 billion deal last year, they said they expect about $250 million in annual cost savings—as well as greater production efficiencies, technology improvements, consistent underwriting of land acquisitions, and overhead reduction—as a result of the move.
In September 2016, Lennar also had purchased luxury homebuilder WCI Communities for $643 million.
Source: Lennar Corp.
