Fresh Off Its Latest Merger Deal, Gehan Homes Unifies Its Brands
The news today [per a press statement]:
Gehan Homes will consolidate three of its homebuilding brands under one unified brand – Brightland Homes, effective March 21, 2023. The renaming integrates approximately 110 active communities from Gehan Homes, Gray Point Homes, and Wonderland Homes brands across Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Tennessee.
The Industry Backdrop And Context
At any given time the hive of people with a vested interest in knowing exactly who a homebuilder is, what they stand for and what they strive for is – like many things – dizzying. Without missing a beat you could rifle off ten separate stakeholders and not necessarily hit every important part of why investing in the beacon of a homebuilding brand means more today than it may ever have.
- End-user homebuyer or renter customers
- Company team members and/or trade partners
- Lenders and/or investors
- Global investors and/or owners
- Land sellers and/or developers
- Professional services providers
- Product and materials suppliers
- Present and future talent recruits
- Local policy makers and/or elected officials
- Local Realtors
(Look, didn't even mention the media!)
When it comes to buying homes and being the homebuyer, a relationship – beyond the transaction – matters more and more, especially as uncertainty and volatility stack such a high and mighty wall of worry.
People everywhere in homebuilding's ecosystem want surety. They need to feel they can trust they're in reliably competent and caring hands when it comes to their live's most costly commitment. Same goes for people picking a place to work, choosing to partner or invest, or understanding what their business growth trajectory might look like given the power of a company's reputation and competitive advantage is in what is still a largely unconsolidated business sector.
The Gehan Homes Backstory [press statement]
The company, founded in 1994, sold a 51% interest to Sumitomo Forestry America in 2014 and since then appointed John Winniford as President and CEO. Under his leadership, the company expanded into four additional markets, acquired two homebuilding companies, and has grown to the 13th largest private homebuilder in the US.
The Gehan Homes name referenced the founding members of the organization, who sold their shares and exited the company in 2016. The Brightland Homes name will eliminate confusion in the marketplace and more accurately depict the company’s structure, mission, and forward-looking vision.
The renaming comes subsequent to the company’s announcement last month of its acquisition of Southern Impression Homes, which marked the homebuilder’s entry into the Florida market and build-to-rent space. Southern Impression will continue to be marketed under its current brand name.
'Looking at the evolution of our company since we transitioned the business in 2016, we have experienced significant growth and implemented changes, said John Winniford, President and CEO of Gehan Homes. “The business has expanded into new markets through acquisition, created new and diversified product offerings, and delivered over 17,000 homes. The consolidation of brands into a new single entity is the logical next step for our company.”'
Why It Matters
Two big reasons.
One is that experience economy values and operating assumptions – which Millennials and their successor young adult cohort Generation Z have evolved from a "nice-to-do" into a "must-do" non-negotiable – mean that confusion and chaos are the enemies of success, while clarity, transparency, provenance authenticity, and simplicity rule.
Related to that, gaining a position as "builder of choice" across an entire ecosystem of interrelated interests will be one of the best – if not, only – ways to navigate a path to both greater operational efficiencies and sustainable margins in a "no more easy money" economic environment.
Secondly, more consolidation that amounts to fewer, bigger players amassing a greater and greater marketshare of the ground-up residential real estate and construction business is afoot.
Trust, clarity, simplicity, scale, and heft will go hand in hand as deeper local scale drives both marketshare and renewable margin opportunity.