Emaar Properties of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has bought Newport Beach-based homebuilder John Laing Homes for $1 billion in cash.
The deal has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies. It closed Thursday.
Besides Dubai, Emaar has real estate operations in India, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Syria, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, among others. Emaar is one of the biggest real estate companies in the Middle East.
The company is known for one-of-a-kind projects. Its Burj Dubai is set to be the tallest building in the world when it’s finished in 2008. About 30% of the company is owned by Dubai’s ruling family.
Formerly privately held, John Laing Homes will continue to be based in Newport Beach and will be operated as a division of Emaar. Chief Executive Larry Webb will continue to run John Laing Homes along with its senior management.
John Laing Homes is the main unit of WL Homes LLC, which posted $1.6 billion in sales last year, ranking it No. 7 on a Newport Beach-based homebuilder whose main unit is John Laing Homes. The company’s $606 million sales gain was a 58% increase from 2004.
The gain pushed WL Homes to $1.6 billion in 2005 sales. It ranked No. 1 on the Business Journal’s list of homebuilders last year with 658 units sold in the county.
John Laing Homes’ local projects include a 560-home development at the former Tustin Marine base.
