Sixth Street, Patron Capital To Acquire UK’s Cala Group

Sixth Street Partners, a leading global investment firm based in San Francisco, and Patron Capital Partners, a European private equity real estate fund, will acquire Cala Group Holdings Limited from Legal & General (L&G) Group Plc for $1.79 billion. The deal is expected to complete in Q4 of 2024.

Cala Group, a major UK house builder, was established in 1875 and was the first Scottish company listed on the London Stock Market. It provides desirable, high quality homes in prime locations throughout the South of England, the Cotswolds and Scotland.

The company is on track to deliver circa 3,000 new homes in the financial year ending 31 December 2024. In the year ending 31 December 2023, Cala Group sold 2,917 homes, resulting in a turnover of $1.72 billion and profit before tax (before exceptional items and revaluations) of $148.27 million.

Cala CEO Kevin Whitaker said that this investment by Sixth Street and Patron demonstrates their confidence in Cala’s business plan and further potential and his company will look forward to develop a strong partnership with Sixth Street and reigniting the excellent relationship they shared with Patron between 2013 and 2018.

“I would like to thank Legal & General for their support since they first invested in Cala. With their backing, Cala has successfully tripled the number of homes we build each year, whilst revenue and profits have grown five- and ten- fold respectively,” he said.

He also said that Cala’s biggest strength has been the talent and passion of its people, and it is in a strong position to go forward, with new ownership and a platform to deliver Cala’s next stage of growth.

“We have talented teams in place across the business, and continue to invest in our land pipeline, to grow our delivery of high quality, sustainable new homes throughout the UK,” he added.

Exceptional Track Record

Co-Chief Investment Officer of Sixth Street Julian Salisbury said that Cala has a bright future and they were proud to be entering this new chapter as stewards of a company with such a deep history and long track record of sustainable growth.

“We, together with Patron, look forward to support Cala and its management team, not only with capital but also with the significant resources of our London-based real estate investment team led by Giulio Passanisi,” Julian said.

In his comments, Patron Capital’s Managing Director and Founder Keith Breslauer said that Cala is one of the UK’s leading house builders with a best-in-class land bank and a focus on building high-quality homes, being consistently ranked five-star for customer service.

“Furthermore, Cala is also a people business with a strong corporate culture and a business we know well, and we look forward to working closely with Cala’s impressive management team and our partner, Sixth Street, to further build the business and help tackle the undersupply of homes in the UK,” he said.

Legal & General Group CEO António Simões said that this transaction demonstrates continued momentum in executing their strategy, simplifying the company’s portfolio to enable a sharper focus on core, synergistic businesses.

“Cala has been an important part of L&G for over a decade, with profits increasing ten-fold since our initial investment in 2013. Cala’s acquisition will provide capital to deliver our strategic goals of sustainable growth alongside enhanced returns for shareholders. I’d like to thank the whole Cala team for their contribution to the Group and wish them every success in the future,” he added.