American Homes 4 Rent Acquires Beazer REIT

AGOURA HILLS, CA—Single-family REIT American Homes 4 Rent said Tuesday it had acquired Beazer Pre-Owned Rental Homes from Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA. The $263-million deal entails the issue of 8.2 million AMH shares, which were trading at $17.81 per share as of early Tuesday afternoon, plus $5 million in escrow and the assumption of about $112.8 million in debt.

The acquisition adds more than 1,300 single-family homes to AMH's portfolio, with the properties located across Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. Beazer Homes began acquiring and leasing previously owned homes in 20-11, forming BPRH as a REIT in 2012 with its own inventory of nearly 200 pre-owned properties at cost and maintaining a 15% equity interest. It also raised more than $100 million from an investor group led and arranged by KKR Capital Markets.

“We are pleased to add these well-located, high-quality homes to our portfolio,” says David P. Singelyn, AMH's CEO. “We expect to move quickly to seamlessly integrate these operations and realize the resulting synergies as we continue to grow our business.” The company is the largest publicly traded owner in the single-family space.

“This group of single-family rental focused companies are looking to expand their portfolios of properties and trying to find ways to do that in an environment where home prices are rising,” Jeffrey Langbaum, an analyst for Bloomberg Industries, said Tuesday. “It's all about finding alternative ways to continue to grow.”