Bridgepoint acquires Miller Homes from GSO in £655m deal

Kenny Wastell
02 August 2017

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Bridgepoint has agreed to acquire Scottish property developer Miller Homes from Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners and two other shareholders in a deal valued at ТЃ655m.

The deal brings to an end a six-year holding period for GSO. During its tenure, the vendor disposed of the group's heavy construction and mining divisions in order to focus on its core homebuilding activities, a spokesperson for GSO told unquote".

The spokesperson declined to comment on returns generated by the investment in Miller Homes.

Capital for the latest transaction was drawn from Bridgepoint Europe V, a €4bn vehicle that held its final close in March 2015.

According to a statement, Bridgepoint is aiming to capitalise on the high level of demand for new homes in the UK, which significantly outstrips supply.

Prior to the deal, Miller Homes had a £420m bond in the works, according to unquote" sister publication Debtwire.

Bridgepoint declined to comment on debt related to the transaction.

Previous funding
In April 2008, Bank of Scotland purchased Miller Homes (then known as Miller Group), providing both equity and debt for a buyout transaction.

In December 2011, RBS invested again alongside GSO Capital Partners, Noble Grossart and senior executives to provide the company with £160m to refinance its £600m net debt.

In 2012, RBS and Lloyds restructured the company's debt.

Bank of Scotland, GSO and Noble Grossart sold part of their stakes to Galliford Try in a £16.57m transaction in July 2014.

Company
Founded in 1934 as part of Miller Group, Miller Homes is a property developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2016 it constructed 2,380 units and forecasts this to increase to 4,000 a year by 2020. It employed an average of 740 people throughout 2016 and will typically have around 2,000 extra subcontractors engaged.

The company generated an operating profit of £103m from £565m in revenues in 2016, according to a statement. Operating profit increased by 31% and revenues by 13% from the 2015 figures, which stood at £78.4m and £500m respectively.

People
Bridgepoint – Jamie Wyatt (partner).
GSO Capital Partners – Michael Whitman (senior managing director).
Miller Homes – Chris Endsor (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Moelis (corporate finance); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax); Travers Smith (legal); Linklaters (legal); Savills (property due diligence); Marsh (insurance due diligence).
Vendor – White & Case (legal).
Company – Rothschild (corporate finance); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax); DLA (legal); JLL (property due diligence).
Management – Jamieson Corporate Finance (corporate finance).