AUBURN HILLS, Mich., July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Champion
Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: CHB), a leader in the factory-built housing industry,
today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire New Era
Building Systems, a leading modular homebuilder, and its affiliates, Castle
Housing of Pennsylvania and Carolina Building Solutions for cash consideration
of $41 million.
Founded in 1992, New Era Building Systems, along with its affiliates,
built more than 1,800 homes in 2004, and has a strong presence in two of the
nation's fastest-growing modular markets, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
"New Era is a very successful company with a long history of innovation in
modular housing and will be an excellent fit for Champion," said William
Griffiths, president and chief executive officer of Champion Enterprises.
"We've been searching for the right partner to expand our presence in the
modular industry, and we are very excited to have Elliot Fabri and his team
join Champion. New Era meets all of our acquisition criteria, which include a
meaningful market position in attractive markets, solid profitability, the
potential for high capital efficiency and a seasoned management team that will
work well within the Champion culture."
Elliot Fabri, currently president of New Era, will become president of the
New Era Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Champion Enterprises. Fabri has
over 30 years of industry related experience and is a recognized leader in the
modular home segment. He is expected to play a significant role in the
Company's efforts to further expand its modular platform and market share.
"We are very pleased to align ourselves with a national company like
Champion," said Fabri. "We believe Champion is the right partner for New Era
at the right time. Their focused strategy on a national modular footprint
combined with their strong capital position will allow us to continue to grow
and expand our business."
New Era will add over $100 million in annual revenues to Champion and will
be immediately accretive to earnings. Post acquisition, Champion's
manufacturing revenues derived from the sale of modular homes will increase to
approximately 25 percent with an estimated modular housing market share of 12
percent, making Champion the largest producer of modular homes in the United
States.
The acquisition is expected to close on or around August 8, 2005 and is
subject to approval by regulators and the shareholders of the New Era
companies.
About Champion
Champion Enterprises, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., a leading
manufacturer of factory-built housing, producing more than 1.6 million homes
since 1953. Today, Champion operates 29 homebuilding manufacturing facilities
in North America and partners with over 2,900 independent retailers, builders
and developers. For more information, please visit
http://www.championhomes.net.
About New Era
The New Era group of companies, with three high tech manufacturing
facilities in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, is a leading manufacturer of
modular systems built housing with distribution in 22 states throughout the
eastern half of the country. The New Era group is known for its innovative
building techniques, custom residential quality, award winning designs and
high levels of customer satisfaction. Its exceptional quality and cost
effective building components are designed to meet the needs of builders and
developers with a broad product line which includes single-family homes,
multi-family units and custom commercial building applications. The New Era
companies include in-house regional design managers along with experienced
production and field installation teams to work with builder and developer
customers to guide projects from start to finish.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains certain statements, including statements
regarding the company's financial position, annual revenues, earnings, sales
of modular homes and increased market share that could be construed to be
forward looking statements within the meaning of the Securities and Exchange
Act of 1934. These statements reflect the company's views with respect to
future plans, events and financial performance. The company does not undertake
any obligation to update the information contained herein, which speaks only
as of the date of this press release. The company has identified certain risk
factors which could cause actual results and plans to differ substantially
from those included in the forward looking statements. These factors are
discussed in the company's most recently filed Form 10-K and other SEC
filings, in each case under the section entitled "Forward Looking Statements,"
and those discussions regarding risk factors are incorporated herein by
reference.
SOURCE Champion Enterprises, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.championhomes.net
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110861.html
CONTACT:
Phyllis Knight, CFO of Champion Enterprises,
+1-248-340-9090; or Tim Hanson, or Paul Kesman, both of Identity
Investor Relations, +1-248-258-2333, chb@identitypr.com
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