Legal & General sells housebuilder Cala to private equity groups
Cala Group, which L&G bought in 2018, is among the UK’s 10 biggest housebuilders and sold just under 3,000 homes last year.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Insurance and asset management giant Legal & General (L&G) has agreed to sell its housebuilding subsidiary Cala back to its former owner in a £1.35 billion deal.
Investment firms Sixth Street Partners and Patron Capital have formed a joint venture to buy Cala, which is among the UK’s 10 biggest housebuilders.
Patron Capital formerly part-owned Cala, holding a 46.5% stake in the company alongside L&G. However, it offloaded its stake to L&G in 2018.
Founded in 1875 as the City of Aberdeen Land Association, Cala focuses on the premium end of the market, building homes in the south of England, the Cotswolds and Scotland.
It employs more than 1,300 people across 10 offices, and sold just under 3,000 homes last year.
The deal will see L&G get £1.16 billion, with the rest coming from the buyers acquiring Cala’s net debt.
L&G said it could use some of the proceeds to return cash to shareholders via share buybacks.
Antonio Simoes, chief executive of L&G, said the deal is part of “simplifying our portfolio”.
“Cala has been an important part of L&G for over a decade, with profits increasing ten-fold since our initial investment in 2013.”
Kevin Whitaker, chief executive officer of Cala, added that the deal showed “confidence in Cala’s business plan and growth potential, as our talented team continues to build high quality, sustainable new homes throughout the UK”.
He added that the company had tripled the number of homes it builds each year under L&G’s ownership.
Keith Breslauer, managing director of Patron Capital, said: “Cala is one of the UK’s leading housebuilders with a best-in-class landbank and a focus on building high-quality homes, being consistently ranked five-star for customer service.
He added that he hoped the company would help “tackle the under-supply of homes in the UK” under Patron’s part-ownership.