Edinburgh's Miller Homes changes hands in £655m deal

Edinburgh-based housebuilder Miller Homes is being snapped up by private equity group Bridgepoint in a deal worth £655 million.

Miller Homes houses at The Larches development, Crookston, Glasgow. Picture: Contributed

Miller is one of the largest housebuilders in the UK, having completed 2,380 properties last year and notching up more than £100m in annual earnings for the first time in 2016. It was set up in 1934.

Bridgepoint – which also owns sandwich chain Pret A Manger – confirmed its takeover of Miller from GSO Capital Partners, which is part of private equity giant Blackstone. A deal had been speculated upon for some time.

Miller chief executive Chris Endsor said: “2016 was an outstanding year for Miller Homes, delivering operating profit in excess of £100m for the first time and outperforming on all key financial metrics for the fifth consecutive year. We fully expect 2017 to continue that upward trend.”

Jamie Wyatt, partner at Bridgepoint, said: “The UK regional markets in which Miller operates are in good health, with a positive sales environment and an attractive land- buying market.”

He added that the group was well placed “to address future growth in the UK new-build housing market where demand currently outstrips supply”.

The UK’s new-build market is estimated to be worth £35 billion, with around one million new homes needed to meet demand.

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