Starwood and Paulson bid on Taylor Wimpey US arm
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has received at least three bids for its North American arm, Taylor Morrison, which could be worth up to $950m (£595m).
Rain Tree Investment, one of hedge fund billionaire John Paulson’s vehicles; Starwood Capital and a private US homebuilder have submitted bids for Taylor Morrison, several sources have said.
Both Rain Tree and Starwood bid the North American operations’ book value, which analysts put at about £600m, two sources told Reuters.
A separate source briefed on the matter said the deal had attracted five bids.
Taylor Wimpey hired JPMorgan Chase last year to sell its US and Canadian units.
JPMorgan told potential bidders it preferred to receive offers on the two businesses as a package but it would accept separate bids as well.
Starwood, Paulson and the private builder all bid on the package, sources said.
Taylor Morrison has focused on Florida and Arizona, which have both been hit hard by the property crash, but it also builds in California, Colorado and Texas.
The current management team of Taylor Morrison also sought private equity backing to evaluate a potential offer, but was not bidding independently, a fourth source said.
The sources all requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.
Representatives of JPMorgan, Taylor Wimpey, Paulson’s Rain Tree and Starwood declined to comment.
Taylor Wimpey has put the value of its US land at $559.6m for 18,841 lots, and its Canadian land at $226.8m for 6,166 lots.