Lennar to spin-off some non-core units, form a rental housing venture

(Reuters) – Lennar Corp said on Wednesday it plans to spin-off all or parts of its non-core businesses to become a pure-play homebuilder and financial services company, while also creating a joint venture to provide single family homes for rent.

The move sent the U.S. homebuilder’s shares up by more than 9% in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The businesses that the company would spin-off include Lennar Mortgage Finance, the company’s commercial mortgage business.

Lennar said its new rental venture is called Upward America Venture and has private equity firm Centerbridge Partners as the lead investor.

Centerbridge alongside asset manager Allianz Real Estate and some other institutional investors have committed a total equity of $1.25 billion for Lennar’s new venture, the company said.

On a post-earnings call with investors, Lennar said the expected size of the spun-off enterprise would be between $3 billion and $5 billion in asset base, with no debt.

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