Century Communities, Inc. (NYSE: CCS) ( “Century”), Greenwood Village, Colorado, today announced that it has acquired the remaining 50% ownership interest in WJH, LLC.
Wade Jurney (“Wade”) will continue as president of Wade Jurney Homes, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Century and will operate as a distinct brand under the Century umbrella while retaining its existing business model.
Wade Jurney Homes is the 35th largest U.S. builder and was named the fastest growing private builder by BUILDER for 2015, 2016 and again in 2017. Wade Jurney Homes is a leader in providing affordable homes in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. Wade Jurney Homes specializes in providing single-family homes for entry-level buyers with sales prices averaging $150,000. Its asset-light business model is streamlined and its homes are uniquely sold online and through retail outlets as opposed to model homes.
Century said the full acquisition of Wade Jurney Homes produces:
- Creates the 10th largest U.S. home builder based on pro forma 2017 deliveries with combined home building operations in 12 states;
- Brings together the #1 fastest growing public and the #1 fastest growing private U.S. home builders, as ranked by BUILDER;
- Expands Century’s investment into a proven, highly profitable and cash flow positive operation;
- Enhances geographic and product diversification through additional exposure to new markets;
- Expands Century’s exposure to first-time buyers;
- Drives additional growth avenues for ancillary revenue streams, including Century’s existing mortgage and title operations;
- Improves access to capital to accelerate Wade Jurney Homes’ expansion efforts into additional markets.
Dale Francescon, Co-CEO, stated, “This transaction establishes Century as a top-10 U.S. home builder and represents another milestone for our company. Our partnership with Wade Jurney Homes has been extremely positive and allowed us to benefit from increasing demand for entry-level homes through a high-returning asset-light model and enhanced geographic exposure to one of the fastest growing regions of the country. Our return on investment has surpassed our expectation in each quarter since inception of the joint venture in 2016 and we are excited to build upon that positive momentum with full ownership of Wade Jurney Homes.”
Rob Francescon, co-CEO, added, “The coming together of the fastest growing public and private U.S. builders was a logical next step for our partnership. We are very pleased that Wade will continue in his current role as president of Wade Jurney Homes. With the strength of our capital resources, national scale and operating infrastructure, coupled with Wade’s operational expertise, we are now even better situated to expand the success of Wade Jurney Homes’ unique operating model into additional markets. This geographic expansion includes the Midwest, Arizona and Texas, where we have already begun acquiring lots. We look forward to Wade Jurney Homes contributing to our earnings in 2018 and beyond.”
As of March 31, 2018, Wade Jurney had approximately 5,810 owned and controlled lots and 1,189 homes in backlog representing a value of $188.8 million. For the trailing twelve-month period ended March 31, 2018, Wade Jurney closed 1,937 homes generating $304.2 million in revenue.
Said Jurney, "I am excited to join Century, which has already contributed greatly to extending our track record as the fastest growing private U.S. home builder in each of the past three years. We have a scalable operating model and we believe the demand for homes at our price points remains strong. Together with Century we are already taking steps to execute the next chapter of our growth and we look forward to being the home builder of choice for entry level buyers in a growing number of attractive markets throughout the country.”
