Lennar is reportedly in advanced talks to sell its real-estate lending arm Rialto Capital to StonePoint Capital.
According to a report by Craig Karmin, Laura Kusisto and Dana Mattioli in the Wall Street Journal, the largest homebuilder in the U.S. is trying to shed weight in the face of headwinds dragging on the housing market’s performance.
WSJ says neither company would comment on the details of the potential deal, but parties familiar with it have come forward to say it is in the works.
Lennar has been looking to offload some of its noncore business, either by spinoff or sale, since April at the latest and said that it would consider selling Rialto as part of that strategy.
Lennar Executive Chairman Stuart Miller is confident that the housing market will rebound in the coming year, and the sale of Rialto could set the company up to capitalize on that upward turn, should it come.
“As they monetize that business or those assets it can be redeployed elsewhere,” Jack Micenko, a senior analyst at Susquehanna International Group, told WSJ.
In an investor call last week, Miller said there have been a number of offers for Rialto and that the company is currently evaluating them.
