Gulf Coast homes included in $402M megadeal

SARASOTA — Affiliates of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP purchased 96 rental homes in Sarasota County as part of a 4,200-unit rental home portfolio it acquired for $402 million.

Sarasota County had the second most rental houses sold in the portfolio in Florida, behind Orange County, where 120 homes were sold. The portfolio sale also included Polk County, with two home sales. In total, 387 rental homes were sold in Florida.

The remainder of the portfolio includes houses in Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee, according to a statement. The seller of the 4,200-home portfolio, BLT Homes, is a rental company owned by Building & Land Technology.

The acquisition makes Cerberus one of the top 10 owners of U.S. institutional rental housing, joining the likes of Blackstone, Colony Capital and American Homes 4 Rent. The private equity firm entered the rental business early this year with the acquisition of Five Ten Capital, a company with more than 1,500 houses.