Taylor Wimpey
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| Taylor Wimpey plc | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: TW.) |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Key people | Norman Askew, Chairman Peter Redfern, CEO Peter Johnson, CFO |
| Industry | Housebuilding |
| Revenue | £4,714m (2007) |
| Operating income | £536m (2007) |
| Net income | £(197)m (2007) |
| Subsidiaries | George Wimpey Taylor Woodrow |
| Website | www.taylorwimpey.com |
Taylor Wimpey plc (LSE: TW.) (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is the largest British based house building and general construction company and the fifth largest in the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Its corporate headquarters are in London, its UK operational headquarters are in High Wycombe and its UK construction headquarters are in Watford.
The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Today
Taylor Wimpey is the name of the company resulting from the merger of Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007.
The company's UK house building operations trade under five brands: George Wimpey, (the third largest UK house builder), Bryant Homes, (the fourth largest UK house builder), Wilson Connolly, Laing Homes and the affordable G2 brand, launched in 2006. Laing Homes and Wilson Connolly will be phased out by June 2008, whilst G2 will be invested and developed. Combined, the Group is the UK’s largest house builder by volume.
In Canada, homes are marketed as Monarch. In the USA Taylor Morrison is used, whilst in Spain and Gibraltar, Taylor Woodrow is used.
Taylor Woodrow also undertakes a wide range of general construction projects in sectors such as airports, education and railways.
The Taylor Wimpey group also owns Prestoplan, a specialist timber-frame manufacturer, and distribution firm Wilson Connolly Logisitics (WCL).
Taylor Wimpey reported a loss before tax of £19.5m on turnover of £4,714m for the year ended 31 December 2007. This loss was largely due to write downs on land values and Work In Progress (WIP) in the American business.
[edit] Background
On 26 March 2007, the Directors of Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey announced that they had unanimously agreed the terms of a recommended all-share £6 billion nil-premium merger, to create a new company to be called Taylor Wimpey.
Under the deal, Taylor Woodrow Shareholders would retain their shares in Taylor Woodrow, retaining 51% of the enlarged group. George Wimpey shareholders were offered shares in Taylor Woodrow, enabling them to have a 49% shareholding in Taylor Woodrow. Taylor Woodrow plc would then change its name to Taylor Wimpey plc.
The Chief Executive of the company is Peter Redfern, who was the Chief Executive of George Wimpey prior to the Merger.
[edit] Posting of merger documents
On 4 May 2007, shareholders of both Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey were posted Merger Documents relating to the transaction.
Under the terms of the proposal, George Wimpey Shareholders received:
For each George Wimpey Share: 1.3914 Taylor Wimpey Shares
The Taylor Woodrow shareholder meetings were held on 29 May 2007 (at 8am), whilst the George Wimpey shareholder meetings were held on 4 June 2007 (at 10:30am).
[edit] Results of Extraordinary General Meetings
At the Taylor Woodrow Extraordinary General Meeting, 96.43% of Taylor Woodrow Shareholders approved the resolution to effect the merger.
Proxy votes lodged for resolutions at the Taylor Woodrow Extraordinary General Meeting were also passed, although shareholders representing over 200m shares abstained.
At the George Wimpey Scheme Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting, 99.89% of George Wimpey Shareholders approved the resolution to effect the merger.
The higher support from the George Wimpey shareholders probably reflects the fact that most of the Directors and Managers in the newly-composed Head Office were going to be appointed from George Wimpey.
However, since the merger has been completed, the composition of the Management is almost exactly 50:50 between Taylor and Wimpey.
[edit] Completion of the Proposed Merger
The completion of the proposed Merger took place on 3 July 2007.
[edit] History
Taylor Wimpey was formed from the merger of Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007.
Taylor Woodrow was founded in 1921 by 16-year old Frank Taylor, who borrowed some money to build two houses in Blackpool. As he was too young to form his own company, his uncle Jack Woodrow lent his name to the business, and so it became Taylor, Woodrow Limited.
In the 1930's, Taylor Woodrow diversified into building temporary hospitals etc, and thereby moved into general construction. This is a business philosophy which has remained with Taylor Woodrow today.
Between 1945 and 2001 Taylor Woodrow's main operations were in general construction with Taylor Woodrow Homes only being a small part of the Group.
George Wimpey was founded by George Wimpey and Walter Tomes (the latter sold out in 1893) as a stone-working partnership in 1880 in Hammersmith.
George Wimpey died in 1913 at the age of 58. His family put the business up for sale in 1919. Godfrey Way Mitchell bought the firm and decided to retain the Wimpey name.
George Wimpey also used to have operations in Australia, Austria, Borneo, Canada, Hong Kong, Iraq, Jamaica, Kuwait, New Guinea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
[edit] UK house building
Taylor Wimpey’s United Kingdom operations are based around four core brands: George Wimpey, Bryant Homes, Laing Homes and G2, an affordable brand launched in 2006.
In January 2001 Taylor Woodrow acquired Bryant Group, a business founded in Birmingham in 1885 by Chris Bryant, for £556 million [1]: the combined housing operations were initially branded 'Bryant Homes - A Taylor Woodrow Company' and subsequently 'Bryant Homes - by Taylor Woodrow'.
Following the merger with George Wimpey, the 'by Taylor Woodrow' suffix has been dropped, and the operations now trade as 'Bryant Homes'.
George Wimpey built its first residential development, the Greenford Park Estate, which was completed in 1928. In the 1970’s George Wimpey became the UK's largest private house builder selling 106,440 homes in the decade, and in the 1980’s George Wimpey began to reinforce Wimpey Homes as a brand, focusing on quality compact housing. Advertising, featuring the famous Wimpey cat, ensured Wimpey Homes became a household name in house building.
In November 2002 George Wimpey went on to acquire a premium housebuilder, Laing Homes from John Laing, which had been established in 1848.
[edit] Taylor Woodrow Construction
Over the years, the construction division, Taylor Woodrow Construction has undertaken a number of landmark projects including airports, cathedrals, football stadia, railway tunnels and roads. It has also built Tesco supermarkets.
Taylor Woodrow also provides facilities management and specialist engineering consultancy services.
Taylor Woodrow exited its operations under the Private Finance Initiative in July 2007, mainly in the healthcare and education sectors. The decision to exit PFI was taken in 2006, but kept on being delayed, and in the end, the department closed down to coincide with the George Wimpey merger.
[edit] North American operations
Taylor Wimpey’s North American operations are based around three core brands: Monarch, Taylor Woodrow and Morrison Homes.
Monarch’s primary focus today is on residential development and construction, including master-planned communities featuring single family homes and town homes. In 1994 Monarch entered into the high-rise sector. It mainly trades in the Ontario area under the name 'Monarch-by Taylor Woodrow' with the strap line 'Inspired by you'.
Taylor Wimpey also has substantial house building operations in certain parts of the USA, and is the fifteenth largest in the country. These operations are marketed under the brand 'Taylor Woodrow' with the strap line 'Inspired by you', and estates can be found in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida.
Today, Morrison Homes builds a range of traditional single family homes and more compact attached town homes.
A large number of employees have been dismissed throughout the United States, primarily in Florida. This was due to the drop in housing sales and closings during FY 2006 and FY 2007.
[edit] Head Offices
Between July 2007 and September 2007, Taylor Wimpey's Corporate Headquarters were located at Taylor Woodrow's premises in Solihull. From September 2007, the combined Taylor Wimpey Head Office has been based in London[2]. This is set to be at different premises from George Wimpey's Carlisle Place, being at 80 New Bond Street.
From October 2007, the UK operational headquarters are set to be in Stokenchurch, off the M40 and near to George Wimpey's existing UK operational headquarters in High Wycombe.
There are thirty - four regional offices in the UK, each with an outside fascia of 'Taylor Wimpey plc'. However, each office either serves 'George Wimpey' branded sites or 'Bryant Homes' branded sites only.
From July 2007, the combined USA operational headquarters were re-located to Bradenton, Florida, where Taylor Woodrow's USA operations were based. George Wimpey's Morrison Homes' headquarters, which were in Georgia, closed down.
