Morrison & Foerster and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, together with US law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, are acting on Japanese homebuilder Sekisui House’s USD4.9 billion acquisition of Denver-based industry peer MDC Holdings.
Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Sekisui, which has delivered more than 2.62 million homes worldwide since its establishment, has agreed to acquire NYSE-listed MDC for USD4.9 billion in an all-cash transaction through a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese homebuilder.
The successful closure of the multibillion-dollar buyout will see Sekisui become the fifth-largest housebuilder in the US, helping the Japanese company achieve its target of supplying 10,000 homes outside of Japan by the fiscal year of 2025, according to a Sekisui press release.
Morrison & Foerster is acting legal counsel to Sekisui on the acquisition, with the team being led by Tokyo partner Randy Laxer and New York partner Joe Sulzbach. MDC has retained Paul Weiss and Brownstein Hyatt as its legal advisers for the transaction. The Paul Weiss team is led by corporate partners Bob Schumer and Michael Vogel.
Sekisui’s takeover move comes about a month after Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel announced that it would buy out US Steel in a USD14.9 billion deal, making it the Japanese group’s biggest acquisition to date.
Ropes & Gray has been advising the Japanese steelmaker, while US Steel has sought advice from Milbank, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.
