Japan's Sekisui House to buy US homebuilder MDC for $4.95 bln (updated)

MDC Holdings

18/01/2024 12:42

(Adds quotes, detail)
       TOKYO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Japanese homebuilder Sekisui
House  1928.T  said on Thursday it has struck a deal to buy
Denver-based builder MDC Holdings  MDC.N  for about $4.95
billion in cash, to become the fifth-biggest homebuilder in the
United States.
    Sekisui said in a statement it would pay $63 per share in
MDC, about a 19% premium to MDC's closing price on Wednesday.
MDC shares rose 16% in premarket trading after the announcement.
        Acquisition of MDC will double Sekisui's presence in the
U.S. to 16 states and quicken the achievement of its goal of
delivering 10,000 homes annually in overseas markets by 2025,
Sekisui's chief executive Yoshihiro Nakai told a press
conference.
  
        "Participation of MDC to our existing group of builders
will make us unmatched in the U.S. housing industry," Nakai
said.
  
        "As part of Sekisui House’s U.S. family of brands, we
expect new opportunities for growth across our footprint for our
team members and within our customer offering," MDC's chief
executive David Mandarich said in a statement.
  
        Sekisui is examining the deal's impact on its earnings
forecast for the next financial year starting in February but
will stop conducting share buybacks, Nakai said.
  
        The move followed the top Japanese steelmaker Nippon
Steel's $14.9 billion 
    deal
     last month to buy U.S. Steel  X.N. .
  

 (Reporting by Rocky Swift and Kantaro Komiya; editing by Jason
Neely and Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))