Wilson Bowden's £70m takeover
HOUSEBUILDER Wilson Bowden said it has bought rival Ward Homes for £28.6m, and is taking on £41.6m of Ward Homes debt.
The acquisition will boost the company's sales volume targets for 2003 and 2004, as well as contribute significantly to its budgeted land purchases.
Wilson Bowden expects the acquisition to add around 30 homes to its David Wilson Homes sales in 2003, and 350 during 2004.
The majority of Ward Homes's operations are in Kent and the northern Home Counties. This deal should deliver a land bank of around 2,300 plots 'at margins more attractive than current open market land purchase' and will provide Wilson Bowden with a much stronger representation in South-East England and, in particular, in the Government's designated growth areas.
On Tuesday, David Wilson Homes announced it had bought Frenchay Developments for £24m . Frenchay owned 26 acres of land at Siston Common, a prime residential development area next to the M4 corridor east of Bristol.
