Del Webb Corp., developer of the Sun City retirement communities, said it’s in talks to sell itself at a price that would value the company at roughly $1.2 billion, including the assumption of debt.
The Phoenix-based company said it has been in talks in recent weeks relating “to a business combination” in which shareholders would receive stock and cash valued “in the low $30s” per share.
Del Webb said there are no assurances a transaction will occur. It didn’t identify the other company.
The news came after a 25 percent rise in the company’s stock over the last week, which prompted it to issue a statement saying it retained investment bank SBC Warburg Dillon Read.
On Thursday, its shares fell $2.62, to $32, giving it a market capitalization of about $570 million. It has about $620 million of debt.
Since 1960, Del Webb has built more than 56,000 homes for retirees. It operates Sun City developments near Phoenix and Las Vegas, and in California, South Carolina and Texas.
The company plans to break ground in the Chicago area this spring for the first Sun City to be built in the Snow Belt.
The 5,000-home retirement community with an 18-hole golf course and other recreational facilities will be built on 1,800 acres in Huntley, 48 miles northwest of the Loop.
