Sir Tom in hunt for third housebuilding company

Published on Friday 19 January 2007 11:57

SCOTLAND'S richest man is understood to be planning a £2 billion cash offer to take control of housebuilder Wilson Bowden.

The deal would see Sir Tom Hunter snap up his third housebuilding firm, alongside McCarthy & Stone, which he bought last year for 1.1bn and Crest Nicholson, which he made a 713 million offer for last week.

Rival building firm Barratt is also said to be in the running for Wilson Bowden and could go head-to-head against Sir Tom, who has financial backing from HBoS - as has Wimpey.

Rival Redrow has already dropped out of the auction, while Persimmon ruled itself out early in the race.

Sources suggest that Sir Tom will table his offer in a "matter of days" after Wilson Bowden agreed an extension to the bid deadline which expires today.

The three will be asked to submit their bids on Monday.

Mark Hake, an analyst at Merill Lynch, said the Scottish consortium was a "likely buyer".

He said: "They have shown the willingness to put large amounts of money into the sector."

Wilson Bowden, which is best known for the brands David Wilson Homes and Wilson Bowden Developments, was put up for sale in July when the Wilson family said it was reviewing the future of its 33 per cent stake in the business.

A successful bid on the part of Sir Tom would see his land bank rise to 43,048 plots - against the 78,000 held by Britain's largest housebuilder, Persimmon.