Newport Beach-based homebuilder William Lyon Homes Inc. is getting a $206 million loan from Los Angeles-based real estate investor and private equity firm Colony Capital LLC.
William Lyon plans to use the money to shore up cash on hand, buy back debt and rework its balance sheet, the company said last week.
It also said it could use the money for “opportunistic land acquisitions.”
The loan gives the company “the resources and flexibility to capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace and to continue with our strategic initiatives,” said Bill H. Lyon, the company’s president and chief operating officer who’s being groomed by father and Chief Executive Gen. William Lyon.
Colony, led by founder and real estate investor Tom Barrack, is providing $50 million of the money through Colony Financial Inc., a real estate investment fund that raised about $250 million from investors in a public offering last month.
The rest is coming from other funds managed by Colony.
The loan is backed by undisclosed assets held by William Lyon Homes.
The company, which builds in California, Arizona and Nevada, has been working through the housing downturn.
In the second quarter, it reported a profit of $39.4 million, a big swing from the $38.9 million loss the homebuilder saw a year earlier.
The improved results were due in large part to a $49 million gain the company re-corded from buying back debt at a discount.
The company, which went private in 2006 but still reports results for debt holders, posted revenue of $77.4 million in the quarter, a 45% drop from a year earlier.
—Michael Lyster
