Pulte buys back $1.5 billion in debt

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Pulte Homes Inc. on Wednesday announced results from its offer to buy $1.5 billion in debt in connection with its purchase of homebuilder Centex Corp.

The tender offer was announced Aug. 11 and expired at midnight Tuesday.

The offer assigned a priority level to each series of notes, so the lower-priority notes that were tendered weren't accepted.

Those that were accepted:

— $252.6 million, or 84 percent, of $300 million in principal outstanding on 4.55 percent notes due in 2010 and issued by Centex;

— $306.9 million, or 78 percent, of $392.5 million in principal outstanding on 7.875 percent notes due in 2011 and issued by Centex;

— $186.1 million, or 93 percent, of $200 million in principal outstanding on 8.125 percent notes due in 2011 and issued by Pulte;

— $341.4 million, or 72 percent, of $473.6 million in principal outstanding on 7.875 percent notes due in 2011 and issued by Pulte.

Below are acceptances for nearly $2.2 billion in notes issued by Centex that are included in a maximum tender offer, under which notes may be tendered based on a priority system:

— $214.7 million, or 66 percent, of $324.3 million in principal outstanding on 7.5 percent notes due in 2012 and having the highest acceptance priority level;

— $168.3 million, or 57 percent, of $295 million in principal outstanding on 5.45 percent notes due in 2012 and having the second-highest acceptance priority;

— $30.1 million, or 10 percent, of $300 million in principal outstanding on 5.125 percent due in 2013 and having the third-highest acceptance priority. Holders had tendered $111.7 million of these notes.

Other notes were tendered, but Pulte didn't accept them because the $1.5 billion for the buyback had been used up:

— $124 million of $350 million in principal outstanding on 5.7 percent notes due in 2014;

— $97.9 million on $450 million in principal outstanding on 5.25 percent notes due in 2015;

— $107.9 million on $480 million in principal outstanding on 6.5 percent notes due in 2016.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Pulte agreed in April to buy Dallas-based Centex for $1.5 billion in stock to create the largest U.S. homebuilder. Shareholders of both companies approved the deal on Aug. 18.

Pulte shares lost 1 cent to trade at $12.35 in afternoon trading.