Vistry Group has completed its more than £1.1 billion takeover of Countryside Partnerships.
by Rory Butler / November 15, 2022
The deal, first announced in September and branded a “game-changer” by Vistry boss Greg Fitzgerald, puts the mega-merger on competitive footing with other Housebuilding and Partnerships Housing giants in the sector.
Inside the deal: Friday’s merger creates one of the ‘biggest Partnerships Housing firms in the UK’, according to Housing Today, by combining Countryside’s 4,400 homes-a-year Partnerships operation with Vistry’s 2,000 homes-a-year output.
Vistry’s newly expanded Partnerships division will also be called Countryside Partnerships, and led by Vistry Partnerships chief executive, Stephen Teagle.
After the deal, Mr Teagle revealed the merger could allow Vistry to overturn Countryside’s decision to shut down and sell off its new £20 million modular housing factory in Bardon, to produce homes for the new venture, which he said could be “in excess of 15,000 homes a year”.
“We are undertaking a thorough review, [but] that’s our intention, to utilise those factories to allow us to deliver even more homes,” he told Housing Today.
It is understood £300 million in cash and more than 128 million (Vistry) shares were included in Friday’s deal.
“This combination of the two Partnerships businesses is a unique opportunity to work at scale with our clients and partners to increase the supply and quality of new homes across a range of tenures,” said Mr Teagle.
“Countryside has a fantastic legacy of delivering high quality regeneration schemes which perfectly aligns with Vistry’s long-term partnering with clients and commitment to sustainable new communities.”
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