Homebuilder Lennar to buy CalAtlantic Group in $9.3 billion deal

(Reuters) - Lennar Corp said on Monday it would buy smaller rival CalAtlantic Group Inc in a stock-and-cash deal valued at about $9.3 billion, including debt, to create the largest homebuilder in the United States.

CalAtlantic's shares were up 8.8 percent at $44 in premarket trading, while Lennar's shares were untraded.

The implied value of the deal is $51.34 per share, representing a premium of 27 percent to CalAtlantic's Friday close.

The equity value of the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, is $5.66 billion, based on CalAtlantic's 110.2 million outstanding shares as of July 26, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The $9.3 billion deal includes net debt of $3.6 billion.

The combined entity would have a market cap of about $18 billion, based on current prices, and control 1,300 active communities in 49 markets, Lennar said.

On a pro forma basis, CalAtlantic stockholders are expected to own about 26 percent of the combined company.

Citi was financial adviser for Lennar while JP Morgan Securities LLC advised CalAtlantic.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)