Taylor Wimpey, the UK’s second largest housebuilder, has reportedly fired the starting gun on the auction of its North American arm.
The move to offload the Taylor Morrison subsidiary comes a week after the company reached an agreement with its banks on a refinancing package.
The Financial Times said some of America’s largest housebuilders were likely to be interested, alongside private equity groups and specialist investors. It is thought that Taylor is looking at splitting the US and Canadian businesses, which have an estimated combined land value of around £600 million.
The sale will enable Taylor Wimpey to cut its £633 million debt pile and focus on boosting its sales margins and volumes in the UK, where it trades as Bryant Homes, Laing Homes and George Wimpey.
It has agreed the terms of a revised £950 million credit facility and a new set of covenants, which remove a number of current operational restrictions and increases flexibility. Taylor Wimpey hopes to conclude the process by the end of the first quarter of next year.
Taylor Morrison has construction sites in locations including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Texas. The group also operates one of Canada’s oldest and largest real estate companies, Monarch.
Taylor Wimpey recently forecast full-year profits at the upper end of expectations and said it had seen greater stability in North America after a period of weak trading conditions in the spring and summer.
