Florida Virtual Houses

Pulte Acquires Centex Homes

April 8th, 2009

Pulte and Centex announced today that they would merge to become the largest player in the homebuilding industry, dwarfing rival D.R. Horton. The $3 billion stock-for-stock merger is a sign that at least Pulte’s management thinks a bottom may be near in the housing bust. The deal reminds me of the big oil company mergers of the 1980s and 1990s, when, confronted by low prices, big names such as Gulf, Getty, Mobil, Texaco and Arco disappeared.

Who’s next? It’s hard to say. But I wouldn't be suprised to see a troubled player like Beazer Homes get snapped up. The trend for years had been small regional builders getting acquired by larger, publicly traded national companies. Now the big guys will likely start merging.

Pulte says the deal will extend its reach deeper in the first time homebuyer category, a Centex specialty. There’s another reason though, $350 million a year in cost savings, according to Pulte. That’s $250 million in lower overhead; $100 million in reduce debt expenses. A when housing does bounce back, bigger profits for Pulte.

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