A pair of homebuilders that were born as Orange County’s real estate emerged from the Great Recession’s ruins say they’re tying the knot.
Irvine-based New Home Co. and Dallas-based Landsea Homes Corp. announced on Monday, May 12, a plan that would see the privately held New Home acquire publicly owned Landsea in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. The merger still requires regulatory and shareholder approvals and could be completed before the end of the year.
Together, the companies will have operations in California, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Texas and Washington, selling roughly 4,000 homes a year. Apollo Funds, which acquired control of New Home in 2021, will invest $650 million into the merged operations.
“Both companies are on attractive growth trajectories individually, which will be further accelerated and augmented by this combination,” said Peter Sinensky, a partner at Apollo.
Orange County was the launching pad for the companies founded amid the recovery from housing’s burst bubble.
New Home was established in 2009 when real estate giant Irvine Co. required construction and marketing assistance to revive Orange County’s homebuilding efforts. The builder was one of the first to sell new, luxury homes after the Great Recession.
Landsea began in 2013 as the U.S. division of Chinese builder Landsea Group. Perhaps best known for the IronRidge development in Lake Forest, the company relocated its headquarters in 2023 from Newport Beach to Texas.
New Home agreed to pay $11.30 per share for Landsea stock, roughly $400 million in cash. Landsea shares traded above $14 in early 2024 and as low as $6 in April.
Builders’ stocks have been hurt of late as high mortgage rates make sales tougher. Profits have thinned as builders offer bigger incentives, often mortgage-rate buydowns, to incentivize house hunters. In 2025’s first quarter, Landsea delivered 643 homes – up 27% in a year – but lost $7 million.
“By bringing together two highly complementary businesses and teams with shared customer-first values, we will further scale our platform nationally and help even more buyers realize the dream of homeownership,” said New Home CEO Matthew Zaist, who will head the merged entities.
The deal, said Landsea CEO John Ho, “will deliver immediate cash value to our stockholders at a significant premium and provide us with a strong, well-capitalized partner to accelerate our next phase of growth.”
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com