Dream Finders Homes Chasing Acquisition of Rival

Dream Finders Homes keeps upping its bid to acquire a rival homebuilder, which seems content to play the field for other offers.

Dream Finders’ latest bid for Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA comes out to $32-a-share via cash, Bloomberg reported. It’s at least the third bid Dream Finders put in for Beazer, the latest of which values the latter at $875 million.

In early May, Jacksonville-based Dream Finders went public with an offer of $25.75 per share to acquire Beazer. When that wasn’t accepted, Dream Finders boosted its offer to $29.25 per share, which still didn’t get a deal across the finish line.

The sweetened offer may not get the job done, either. After the previous rejection, Beazer called for not only a higher price, but the signing of a confidentiality and standstill agreement, along with the elimination of a requirement that Beazer engage in exclusive talks with Dream Finders.

Dream Finders raised its offer and forwent the exclusivity clause, but declined to adhere to a confidentiality and standstill agreement, according to a statement from Beazer.

“Dream Finders decided to make its latest proposal public in what can only be perceived as an attempt to pressure Beazer’s board to engage with Dream Finders under unilateral terms that Beazer’s board does not believe to be in the best interests of shareholders,” the company said.

Beazer’s rejections of Dream Finders stem from an alleged undervaluing of the acquisition target. The company may think it can find better value elsewhere, as it claimed to have “received interest from additional parties regarding a range of potential transactions.”

Beazer’s stock rose 14 percent early on Wednesday morning in light of the most recent offer, while Dream Finders saw a slight decline of nearly 3 percent over that same period.

Dream Finders previously made inroads in Atlanta, one of the fastest-growing housing markets in the country, by securing the assets of Stockbridge-based Liberty Communities — including its homebuilding operations, manufacturing facilities and component import businesses — last year.

The company’s market value stands around $1.5 billion.

— Holden Walter-Warner