Shares of Newport Beach-based homebuilder William Lyon Homes skyrocketed more than 30% Friday after the company’s chairman and chief executive launched a second bid to buy the rest of the company he doesn’t own.
Gen. William Lyon offered $93 a share for the roughly 25% of the company’s shares he doesn’t control.
That’s 23% higher than William Lyon Homes’ closing price a day earlier. Shares were trading at $100 on Friday.
The company’s stock has been on a roller-coaster ride the past year.
Shares traded at a high of $166 last fall after Lyon’s first offer. They started tumbling as rising interest rates raised fears that the housing market would slow.
The company’s stock had fallen near its 52-week low of $70.75 just before Lyon’s recent offer.
The expiration for Lyon’s current offer is April 13. It’s the second big buyout move the chief executive has made in little over a year.
Lyon’s previous offer was for $82 per share last April. That was a 10% premium over the stock’s price at the time. It was rejected by the company’s board members for being too low.
He later withdrew the offer, saying he had expected a counterproposal from the board. Four board members resigned.
Lyon directly owns 4.1 million shares of the homebuilder, or about 48% of the outstanding stock. He controls 50.4% of the voting power of the company.
Together with his trusts, Lyon owns 6.2 million shares, or 74.5% of the outstanding stock. In order for the deal to be finalized, Lyon and his trusts must control 90% of the shares outstanding.
William Lyon Homes builds homes in California, Nevada and Arizona.
The company reported a 10% rise in fourth-quarter profit to $88 million. New-home orders fell 7% in the quarter, with the average price of a home down 7% to $531,000.
