Champion Enterprises to Acquire New Era Building Systems
- PR Newswire

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., July 19, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Champion Enterprises, Inc. , a leader in the factory-built housing industry, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire New Era Building Systems, a leading modular homebuilder, and its affiliates, Castle Housing of Pennsylvania and Carolina Building Solutions for cash consideration of $41 million.

Founded in 1992, New Era Building Systems, along with its affiliates, built more than 1,800 homes in 2004, and has a strong presence in two of the nation's fastest-growing modular markets, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

"New Era is a very successful company with a long history of innovation in modular housing and will be an excellent fit for Champion," said William Griffiths, president and chief executive officer of Champion Enterprises. "We've been searching for the right partner to expand our presence in the modular industry, and we are very excited to have Elliot Fabri and his team join Champion. New Era meets all of our acquisition criteria, which include a meaningful market position in attractive markets, solid profitability, the potential for high capital efficiency and a seasoned management team that will work well within the Champion culture."

Elliot Fabri, currently president of New Era, will become president of the New Era Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Champion Enterprises. Fabri has over 30 years of industry related experience and is a recognized leader in the modular home segment. He is expected to play a significant role in the Company's efforts to further expand its modular platform and market share.

"We are very pleased to align ourselves with a national company like Champion," said Fabri. "We believe Champion is the right partner for New Era at the right time. Their focused strategy on a national modular footprint combined with their strong capital position will allow us to continue to grow and expand our business."

New Era will add over $100 million in annual revenues to Champion and will be immediately accretive to earnings. Post acquisition, Champion's manufacturing revenues derived from the sale of modular homes will increase to approximately 25 percent with an estimated modular housing market share of 12 percent, making Champion the largest producer of modular homes in the United States.

The acquisition is expected to close on or around August 8, 2005 and is subject to approval by regulators and the shareholders of the New Era companies.

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Greg Harmon - President
Commonwealth Real Estate Services
E-mail: greg@cwres.com
Telephone 503.244.2300 Ext. 101