Scottsdale-based Taylor Morrison to be purchased by investors

The British parent organization of Scottsdale-based homebuilder Taylor Morrison said Thursday that it has agreed to sell the builder and its Canadian subsidiary to a private-investment consortium for $955 million.

Parent Taylor Wimpey plc, a publicly held company that trades on the London Stock Exchange, said it plans to sell Taylor Morrison and Ontario-based builder Monarch to a group of investment funds managed by TPG Capital, Oaktree Capital Management and JH Investments Inc.

The sale, subject to approval by regulators and Taylor Wimpey shareholders, is expected to close in May, company officials said.


"We see this as a positive sign for the future of our business," said Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison president and CEO. "The commitment and tenacity of our team have helped pave the road for today's announcement."

Taylor Morrison and Monarch have ongoing homebuilding operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Canada.

Palmer said Taylor Morrison met its primary objective for 2010, which was for all the company's U.S. divisions to return to profitability after suffering losses in 2009.

"We've weathered the storm while remaining true to our core values," she said. "We've pulled through with a structure that we feel is very viable in today's market."

Investor TPG Capital is a private-equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas, that was founded in 1992.

During its nearly 20 years of operation, the company has invested in a variety of companies, including Lucent Technologies, Beringer Wine, Del Monte Foods, Ducati Motorcycles and clothing-maker J. Crew.

In recent years, TPG Capital has invested in a number of real-estate-related companies, including Chicago-based ST Residential, owner of the 44 Monroe condominium project in downtown Phoenix, which reopened recently as an upscale apartment community.

"We are pleased to add Taylor Morrison to our growing portfolio of real-estate-related businesses," said Kelvin Davis, TPG senior partner. "We're looking forward to working with the company's management team, which has done an excellent job leading the businesses through a difficult economic environment."

Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management, another investor in the deal, manages a number of investment funds including GFI Energy Ventures LLC, which invests exclusively in the energy and power industry.

"We believe that the company's international platform is an ideal vehicle for participating in the future recovery of the homebuilding industry," said John Brady, head of Oaktree's global real-estate investment unit.

JH Investments Inc., the third investor in the Taylor Morrison deal, is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Its owner is Joe Houssian, founder and former CEO of Intrawest Corp., an international resort and real-estate developer that was sold in 2006 for $2.8 billion.

"We have been very intrigued with Taylor Morrison and Monarch for quite some time, and we are looking forward to being associated with this first-class organization," Houssian said.

by J. Craig Anderson The Arizona Republic Apr. 1, 2011 12:00 AM





Scottsdale-based Taylor Morrison to be purchased by investors