Private equity giant Apollo acquiring Edinburgh-headquartered Miller Homes

Edinburgh-headquartered housebuilder Miller Homes is being snapped up by funds managed by Apollo, taking on the firm from fellow private equity giant Bridgepoint Group.

Financial terms have not been disclosed regarding the deal, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2022.

Miller Homes, which recently said it was planning more than 500 new houses in “key” locations across east Scotland, was acquired by Bridgepoint for £655 million in 2017.

The Scottish housebuilder was established in 1934 and is focused on building high-quality family homes in regional markets in Scotland and England. It says it constructs about 4,000 properties a year across nine regions, with ambitions to grow to 6,000 units annually in the medium term, while it is “on track for a record 2021”. The firm received legal advice from DLA Piper regarding this latest deal.

'This is an exciting development for Miller Homes in continuing our recent strong momentum,' says the firm's boss Chris Endsor. Picture: contributed.

Miller Homes chief executive Chris Endsor said: “This is an exciting development for Miller Homes in continuing our recent strong momentum. Apollo has deep housing expertise, with a global platform, extensive resources and capital to create value for all stakeholders.

“The past four years have witnessed a period of expansion and strong operational performance for Miller Homes, as well as having to adapt the business in exceptional circumstances. We have emerged stronger for it and are very well-placed to achieve our medium-term target of 6,000 units while maintaining the product quality and service for which we are known.”

Alex Humphreys, partner at Apollo – which as of September 30 had assets under management of about $481 billion (£359bn) – cheered the deal, saying: “Miller Homes has a strong presence in suburban locations that continue to see strong consumer demand, and we look forward to working alongside the talented management team to execute on their growth strategy.”

Fellow Apollo partner Christopher Hojlo said: “We continue to see opportunities to invest in the residential housing market as consumer demand for new homes accelerates.

Commitment

"Today’s announcement further builds on Apollo’s continued commitment to the housing sector, most recently including current and pending investments by Apollo and its affiliates in U.S. homebuilder, The New Home Company, and leading U.K. specialist mortgage lender, Foundation Home Loans. We look forward to leveraging our industry knowledge and relationships to scale the business and to provide more customers with high-quality family homes.”

Also commenting was Jamie Wyatt, partner and co-head of UK investment at Bridgepoint, who said: “We are delighted to have supported Miller Homes and its management to grow the business over the last four years. Under our period of ownership, the number of houses sold per annum rose by a third, revenues exceeded £1bn for the first time, and profits increased by almost 50 per cent.

"The business also expanded into new UK regions and completed two strategic acquisitions.”

Miller Homes in May said it had acquired Wallace Land Investments and Management, a strategic land promotion company, saying this would boost its “sizeable” strategic landbank, bringing the group’s total to 119 sites. The Edinburgh-based firm at the time said it expected that the portfolio would deliver a “significant number of consented units, thereby adding significant value-creation both now and in future years”.

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