By Kris Hudson | The Wall Street Journal
Plans by timber conglomerate Weyerhaeuser Co. to market its home-building unit, valued at more than $3 billion, accelerated last week as prospective bidders submitted preliminary expressions of interest in a deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
The names of the possible bidders weren’t available. But most of the country’s largest home builders are expected to explore a possible purchase of the unit, which was the 18th-largest U.S. builder last year with sales of roughly 2,300 homes, according to Builder Magazine.
The real plums within the Weyerhaeuser unit are its thousands of lots ready for home construction or close to it, especially in California. Such lots are in scarce supply since land development slowed markedly during the recession.
