Champion Enterprises, Inc. Announces Acquisition of 14 Retail Locations And a Manufacturing Facility
-- Home centers to total 226, expect 250 by year end -- Home building facilities up to 59
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Champion Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: CHB - news), the nation's leading home manufacturer, announced today three separate acquisitions comprising 14 home centers in Kentucky and Indiana and a home manufacturing facility in Kentucky. Combined sales of the three organizations in 1997 were approximately $50 million.
The largest of the three acquisitions is Trading Post Mobile Homes, Inc. owned by Art Richter and family. Trading Post has seven retail locations in Kentucky and Indiana. The acquisition is expected to close in October pending government approvals.
Joseph H. Stegmayer, President, Retail Operations, said, ''We are extremely pleased to welcome Art Richter's organization to the Champion family. As one of the oldest and strongest housing retailers in the country, Trading Post has been operated by three generations of the Richter family. They are outstanding entrepreneurs and will be an asset to our organization.''
Art Richter, President of Trading Post, commented, ''As a family company with a 52-year history in the business, I wanted us to be affiliated with an organization that understands the pulse of the housing industry. Champion is a leading company in the industry, and one who will help us continue to grow our business through the 21st Century.''
Champion also announced the acquisition of KentuckyBilt Homes, Inc. with five retail locations and a related manufacturing facility which operates as Fleming County Industries, Inc., and two other Kentucky-based retail centers doing business as Premier Homes, Inc.
Stegmayer added, ''We now have a great network of retail organizations in Kentucky. With Champion's decentralized management organization, our new home centers will continue to operate as ntrepreneurial retailers under local leadership. Our overall financial strength and size will support and strengthen their marketing initiatives and future growth.''
Commenting on the manufacturing facility acquisition, Philip C. Surles, Champion's Chief Operating Officer, noted, ''The Fleming County plant is a great addition to our capacity in the Midwest. The homes that we will produce there will represent new products and price points to our customers in this region. We are also considering the potential for future expansion at this location in 1999.''
''Following these acquisitions we will have 226 retail centers as we continue to implement our retail expansion strategy of acquiring well-run, highly profitable organizations,'' added Walter R. Young, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. ''Our retail organization has grown more than ten-fold since the beginning of the year. Champion is now a major factor in housing retail distribution and will continue to add to the retail organization through careful internal expansions and further acquisitions.''
Young concluded, ''We expect long-term demand for manufactured housing to be strong as we expand our markets into subdivisions, urban areas and new consumer groups. We now expect to have 250 retail centers open as we start 1999, and will clearly exceed $500 million in retail sales this year, well on our way to our goal of $1 billion by the year 2000.''
Since December 1997, and including today's announcements, Champion Enterprises has acquired 14 retail organizations with 166 retail locations, for approximately $278 million in cash, $12 million in stock and contingent amounts based on future profits. Including internal growth of 40 additional locations this year, Champion will have 226 sales centers in 24 states after completing the acquisitions announced today. Champion's retail sales in 1998 are expected to be over $500 million, ranking the company as the #3 manufactured housing retailer in the country. With 59 manufacturing facilities in 19 states and western Canada, Champion is the nation's largest producer of manufactured homes in the U.S. The company's 1998 market share of U.S. HUD-code wholesale shipments through June was 18.3 percent. For the six-months ended July 4, 1998, total net sales increased 30 percent to $1.05 billion and diluted earnings from continuing operations increased 38 percent to $0.88 per share. |
