Berkshire Hathaway, parent company of manufactured homes giant Clayton Homes, is purchasing a $560 million stake in Axalta Coating Systems, a subsidiary of private equity giant The Carlyle Group, which also has an interest in manufactured homes.

According to Forbes, Axalta, which provides coatings for automobiles, SUVs and commercial vehicles, was purchased in 2013 by Carlyle from DuPont, which it then took public and tripled its investment. Berkshire paid $28 per share for 20 million shares, gaining it just under a ten percent stake in the company. In October Berkshire acquired national dealership Van Tuyl Automotive, as CEO Warren Buffett targets investments in the reviving automotive industry amid speculation he may acquire the remaining Axalta stock.

MHProNews learned from wsj that in 2013 Carlyle Group acquired two Florida manufactured communities for $30.8 million from Shamrock Holdings LLC of Paradise Valley, AZ. Village of Ponce de Leon in Melbourne Beach and Sun Valley Estates in Tarpon Springs, are both age-restricted communities. At Sun Valley, occupancy is 89% and average rents are $582 a month. Village of Ponce de Leon is 82% full and has average rents of $681

While Carlyle’s investment in manufactured home communities pales in the shadow of its $194 billion in worldwide assets under its management, it is indicative of investors realizing the value of manufactured housing. ##

(Image credit: wikipedia)

  Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.