Berkshire Affiliate Expands Into Virginia With Acquisition
Clayton Properties Group, a conglomerate of Berkshire Hathaway, has extended into Virginia via its Mungo Homes brand acquiring Richmond-area builder CraftMaster Homes. Clayton Properties Group first purchased South Carolina-based Mungo Homes in 2018 and has slowly been widening its footprint on the east coast since. CEO Steven Mungo says the company decided on acquiring CraftMaster Homes because of the builder’s widely positive reputation in Richmond. CraftMaster Homes’ custom home offshoot company, PerrinCrest Custom Homes, was also part of the deal, reports Richmond BizSense.
Both CraftMaster and PerrinCrest will continue under their names, with the tagline, “a Mungo Homes company.”
“We’re not really in the custom business,” Mungo said of PerrinCrest, “but we really couldn’t figure out how to separate that from the rest of the company without it being terribly awkward.”
“They seem to be doing a great job with the custom business and interested in it,” he said. “We think we can make their custom business be more competitive, because of the tremendous buying power that we bring to the table.”
Where other acquisitions have adopted the Mungo Homes name, Mungo said he left the decision up to Tunstall, who will continue leading both firms. All of CraftMaster’s 25 employees also are carrying over.
Mungo said it made sense to keep CraftMaster’s name in light of its brand recognition and higher price point. Where CraftMaster’s homes in recent years have averaged in the low-$400,000s, Mungo Homes’ product, which it markets as affordable and energy-efficient, ranges closer to $330,000, Mungo said.
“Richmond is an expensive market housing-wise. It’s more akin to Raleigh or Charleston,” Mungo said, adding that his company also is active in lower-price markets. “That keeps our average sales price down a bit, and we emphasize in some of those markets a much-lower price point than what Jeff has typically done.”