Ryland Group acquires Phoenix home builder

Ryland Group Inc., one of the country's largest home builders, has purchased the operations of Trend Homes from Phoenix investment firm Najafi Investments LLC.

Westlake Village, Calif.-based Ryland will acquire 910 lots and homes for future sales, as well as 106 homes currently sold and under construction in the Phoenix area, where Trend is headquartered.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

Ryland has been doing well as of late and surprised Wall Street by turning a $10.6 million profit in the third quarter on revenue that grew by nearly half to $359 million. The results were driven by a 56 percent increase in new orders.

The Trend acquisition is the second Ryland has made in recent months. In July, the company purchased the assets of Timberstone Homes in Charlotte, N.C.

All employees of Trend Homes are expected to be retained by Ryland, and Reed Porter, Trend's president, will be Ryland's Phoenix Division president.

Shares of Ryland gained 6 cents, or less than 1 percent, on Monday to close at $32.64 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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