TOUSA, Standard Pacific–Big Builder Called it
Here’s what Big Builder reported February 14, 2008.
The other home builders show, mostly offsite, is happening at a nearby high-end hotel. There are no booths, no demonstrations, no powerpoints, no little logo-ed promotional premiums to walk away with. Here’s what there are: Suits, drinks, hearty laughter, lots of slaps on the back, business card exchanges, and promises to reconnect, mostly in New York. Among the denizens there are David Matlin, a principal at MatlinPatterson Global Advisors and Art Falcone, who’s re-entered Florida’s home building arena with a company called Americrest, that looks in its near-term future footprint, uncannily similar to Transeastern, the company that brought TOUSA to its knees.
To quote a blogger we admire, “WHOCUDAKNOWED IT?” Fresh off installing MatlinPatterson’s Ken Campbell to replace Jeffrey Peterson as president and CEO of StandardPacific, we see the tie to TOUSA, even as Art Falcone’s Americrest Group fades out of the scene. Somehow, the land Falcone sold to TOUSA in 2005 as part of the Transeastern acquisition is still a sore spot. MatlinPatterson owns major shares of TOUSA, so the blend with StanPac makes spreadsheet sense if it can be rid of its legacy Transeastern poltergeists.
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — While it is the policy of Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE: SPF) not to comment on market rumors or speculation, the Company has decided to issue the following statement:
“Although the homebuilding industry is experiencing challenges at this time, we believe that there may be attractive land and corporate opportunities worth considering. We continuously review acquisition and other strategic opportunities which could enhance value for our stockholders. To this end, the Company is engaged in preliminary discussions and the exchange of information with TOUSA, Inc. regarding a possible transaction. There can be no assurances that any transaction will occur, or as to the timing, structure or terms of any transaction. That said, the Company does not anticipate having any further comment unless and until a definitive agreement for a transaction is reached.”
Standard Pacific Corp., one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, has built homes for more than 103,000 families during its 42-year history. The Company constructs homes within a wide range of price and size targeting a broad range of homebuyers. Standard Pacific operates in many of the largest housing markets in the country with operations in major metropolitan areas in California, Florida, Arizona, the Carolinas, Texas, Colorado and Nevada. The Company provides mortgage financing and title services to its homebuyers through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, Standard Pacific Mortgage, Inc., SPH Home Mortgage and SPH Title. For more information about the Company and its new home developments, please visit our website at: http://www.standardpacifichomes.com.
Consolidation is and will be a byproduct of this downturn. MatlinPatterson and companies like it pencil their deals with different math models than those of home builder/developers to make them make financial sense. Right now, they’re stewards of operations that can bring value to both homeowners and to communities in the environs of both TOUSA and Standard Pacific communities. By making the debt to both companies less expensive, and extracting overhead costs, this deal can make sense, especially as volume is so slow.
We’ll see more of this soon.
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