Our largest land lease community operator has received a proposal from the partnership which is offering $2.10 per share.

Hometown has entered into pre-bid agreements with four major institutional investors – Perennial Value, Colonial First State, WaveStone Capital and Maso Capital – to gain a 17.8% of Gateway’s shares.

Hometown America was established in 1997 and has over 60 land lease communities in 11 US states – a significant number here but a drop in the ocean compared to the 37,624 land lease communities and 4.2 million home sites across the US.

They are sponsored by Calzada Capital Partners (Calzada), a global real estate private equity firm with over $US9 billion in assets under management and acquired its first LLC in Australia in March last year. Hometown Australia now has five communities valued at $100 million.

As we reported here, Gateway recently downgraded its FY18 profit guidance, blaming the downturn in the housing market.

The group was founded in 2009 and listed on the ASX in mid-2015 with 36 communities on the back of three investment funds and the Tasman group of LLCs. The first fund was co-founded by Mr Ottawa.

They now have 58 communities across QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC and SA, over 7,100 long-term-occupied sites and another 1,800 in development – a significant investment for Hometown.

Watch this space.