Exhibit 99.1
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Contacts:
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Arizona:
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Texas:
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New York:
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Larry Seay
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Jane Hays
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Chris Tofalli
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CFO & Vice President-Finance
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Vice President-Corp. Develop.
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Broadgate Consultants
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(480) 609-3330
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(972) 543-8123
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(212) 232-2222
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Meritage Homes Corporation Completes
Acquisition of
Colonial Homes of Fort Myers/Naples, Florida
Dallas and Scottsdale, Arizona (February 14,
2005) – Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE: MTH) today
announced that it has completed the purchase of the homebuilding assets of
Colonial Homes of Fort Myers/Naples, Florida (“Colonial”). Colonial controls
approximately 1,800 lots in the Fort Myers/Naples area and closed 355 homes in
2004 at an average selling price of approximately $347,000, resulting in home
closing revenue of $123 million.
“We are excited about our expansion in the
fast-growing state of Florida,” said John R. Landon, Meritage Co-Chairman and
CEO. “Consistent with our past
acquisitions, we expect to grow this division rapidly and anticipate closing
approximately 400 homes in this division in 2005.”
Tony Persichilli, Division President of Colonial, will
remain with the Company as President of the Fort Myers/Naples division.
About
Meritage Homes Corporation
Meritage Homes Corporation is one of the nation’s
largest single-family homebuilders, and is traded on the NYSE, symbol:
MTH. The Company appears on Forbes’ “Platinum 400” list as number one
in terms of five-year annualized total return, and is included in the S&P
SmallCap 600 Index. Fortune magazine recently named Meritage
to its “Fortune 1000” list of America’s largest corporations and included the
Company as a “top pick from 50 great investors” in its Investor’s Guide
2004. Additionally, Meritage is ranked
as one of Fortune’s Fastest
Growing Companies in America, its fourth appearance on this list in six
years. During its 18-year history, the
Company has built approximately 35,000 homes, ranging from entry-level to
semi-custom luxury. Meritage operates in
fast-growing states of the Southern and Western U.S., including six of the top
ten single-family housing markets in the country. For more information about the Company,
please visit the Meritage website located at www.meritagehomes.com.
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This
press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include that we anticipate closing
approximately 400 homes in our Fort Myers/Naples division in 2004. Such statements are based upon the current
beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks
and uncertainties. Actual results may
differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
With
respect to the Colonial Homes acquisition, these uncertainties include: the risks that the Colonial Homes business
will not be integrated successfully; that market and financing synergies
anticipated from the acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer
to realize than expected; that unanticipated expenses and liabilities may be incurred;
and that the combined companies will lose key employees or suppliers.
Meritage’s
business is also subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including: the
strength and competitive pricing of the single-family housing market; demand
for and acceptance of our homes; changes in the availability and pricing of
real estate in the markets in which we operate; our ability to continue to
acquire additional land or options to acquire additional land on acceptable
terms, particularly in our greenfield start-up markets; general economic slow
downs; consumer confidence, which can be impacted by economic and other factors
such as terrorism, war, or threats thereof and changes in stock markets; the
impact of construction defect and home warranty claims; the cost and
availability of insurance, including the unavailability of insurance for the
presence of mold; interest rates and changes in the availability and pricing of
residential mortgages; our lack of geographic diversification; our level of
indebtedness and our ability to raise additional capital when and if needed;
our ability to take certain actions because of restrictions contained in the
indentures for our senior notes and the agreement for our senior unsecured
credit facility; legislative or other initiatives that seek to restrain growth
in new housing construction or similar measures; the success of our program to
integrate existing operations with any new operations or those of past or
future acquisitions; our success in locating and negotiating favorably with
possible acquisition candidates; our ability to achieve certain pre-tax
margins; our dependence on key personnel and the availability of satisfactory
subcontractors; the impact of inflation; our potential exposure to natural
disasters; the impact of new accounting principles; and other factors
identified in documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including those set forth in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2003 under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations – Factors That May Affect Our Future
Results and Financial Condition” and in Exhibit 99.1 of Meritage’s Form 10-Q
for the quarter ended September 30, 2004.
As a result of these and other factors, the Company’s stock and note
prices may fluctuate dramatically.
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