Lennar agrees to buy Rausch Coleman Homes

BusinessFort SmithLatest NewsNorthwest Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) ago 1,619 views 

Miami-based Lennar Corp. announced Tuesday (Nov. 19) it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fayetteville-based Rausch Coleman Homes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

According to Lennar, a publicly held company (NYSE: LEN), the deal is for Rauch Coleman’s homebuilding operations which is on target to build around 5,000 homes in 2024 with an average sales price of $230,000.

Rausch Coleman is active in 16 metro areas in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In Arkansas, the company is active in the Fort Smith metro, the Jonesboro area, central Arkansas, and Northwest Arkansas.

The company in October bought 47 lots in the Castlewood addition in Benton County for $3.07 million. In December 2023, Rausch Coleman bought 117.9 acres in Prairie Grove for $5.72 million to build a new residential development. Several subdivisions in the Chaffee Crossing area in Fort Smith were built by Rausch Coleman.

“With this acquisition, Lennar will expand its footprint into new markets in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas and Missouri while adding to its existing footprint in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida. The acquisition will add to Lennar’s community count and deliveries which are part of its 2025 growth target,” Lennar noted in a statement.

Lennar, the second largest U.S. home builder behind Arlington, Texas-based D.R. Horton, had 73,087 home closings and $32.459 billion in revenue in 2023. Rausch Coleman, is the nation’s 21st largest home builder, according to Builder magazine, with 4,437 closings and revenue of $1.05 billion in 2023.

“As you can imagine, this is an exciting day for us. Lennar is an outstanding company with a stellar reputation, an organization that shares our commitment to customers, to people, and to quality,” said Rausch Coleman CEO John Rausch. “This acquisition will further scale the operation, advancing our mission to help even more families achieve home ownership and realize the quality-of-life improvements that come with it.”

According to Builder, Lennar’s move to acquire Rausch Coleman follows the recent acquisition of Atlanta-based WCH Homes.

Shares of Lennar closed Tuesday at $168.71, up 79 cents. In the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged between $125.17 and $193.90.