Skyline Corporation and Champion Enterprises Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Champion Home Builders, Inc., previously announced merger/acquisition (M&A) is set to close within the next two weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Recent press releases have not announced a set date, but they have pointed to a closing expected before the end of the first half of 2018.
Skyline (SKY) shares have soared since the announcement, as the graphic below reflects.
A stockholder told the Daily Business News that their firm expects the stock to rise even higher once the M&A is complete.
That source in an emailed message – quoting verbatim – said:
“- first broker picked up coverage on the stock today-price target 37$
– Your going to see a lot more activity next week after the deal closes. I bet 3-4 banks pick up coverage on the stock.
-These guys + CVCO have wind at their back – housing inv is tight, prices moving up on site built, no major capacity coming on”
While there are some new production centers – including one for Champion – being established, as MHProNews has previously reported, the points made by a verified stockholder are interesting ones.
In a release last week, the Daily Business News was advised, “Skyline Announces Intent To List On The New York Stock Exchange…” and, another release stated that the stock will declare a special dividend in a matter of days.
As a disclosure, MHProNews takes nor holds a position on any industry stock. Champion is one of those companies that have been making the move to “go vertical” in recent years. They did so in the 1990s as well.
Stay tuned for the anticipated announcement, which per sources could be completed on or before the middle of June, 2018.
That M&A would give the new Skyline/Champion the number 2 position in the industry, ahead of Cavco, but still dwarfed by Clayton Homes.
It continues the trend of consolidation within manufactured housing, which concerned members say that the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) may be fostering, a claim that MHI has neither affirmed nor denied. However, in a practice similar to other trade associations, MHI issues an antitrust warning in their meetings. ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)
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Related Reports:
Clayton Homes, Top 25 Manufactured Housing Industry Report, Trend Lines
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Submitted by Soheyla Kovach to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.com.
Soheyla is a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.