Zelman’s #1-Ranked Investment Banking Team Advised Dream Finders on Its Successful Acquisition of Crescent Homes

Zelman Partners, A Walker & Dunlop Company (NYSE: WD), served as exclusive buy-side M&A advisor to Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH) on its acquisition of privately-owned homebuilder Crescent Homes.

The acquisition meaningfully enhances Dream Finders’ geographic footprint and allows the company to expand into the markets of Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee.

“This is Zelman’s sixth M&A transaction in the last 12 months totaling more than $1.5 billion of transaction value and representing over 70% market share over that time frame. These transactions range in size from $25 million to more than $450 million and include buy-side and sell-side advisory roles involving private homebuilders, single-family land developers and multifamily developers, clearly demonstrating our ability to provide leading M&A services to clients of any size across the housing ecosystem. I’m incredibly proud to be surrounded by the most talented, dedicated, experienced, and hard-working colleagues in the business,” stated Zelman’s Head of Investment Banking, Tony McGill.

Patrick Zalupski, Dream Finders’ founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, shared: “We have a long history of working with the Zelman team, initially as an industry advisor when we were raising private capital, then on our IPO in 2021, our debut High Yield issuance in 2023, and as our buy-side advisor on this acquisition. They understand our long-term goals and strategic objectives, and have the right deal experience, horsepower and personality to support our growing organization. Tony and his team seamlessly complimented our internal diligence effort by assisting in aggregating, organizing and analyzing project underwriting and modeling information, supporting our internal approval processes, and helping manage the various parties to keep deal documentation and diligence on track.”

“Dream Finder’s stock has tripled since last year for good reason. This is their second acquisition as a public company and fifth acquisition since 2019, demonstrating management’s unwavering commitment to driving shareholder value through increased scale, geographic diversification, and access to high-quality land in highly desirable locations. In addition, the structure of this transaction adheres to Dream Finders’ disciplined land-light operating philosophy that serves the dual purposes of maximizing returns on equity while minimizing capital invested in land,” stated McGill.

For more information please visit Zelman Investment Banking or contact us directly here or 212-993-5855.

About Zelman

Founded in 2007, Zelman is the leading investment banking and institutional research advisory firm dedicated exclusively to the U.S. housing industry including single-family, multifamily, SFR / BFR, building products, mortgage, technology, brokerage, and related businesses. Zelman specializes in bespoke institutional research and investment banking services encompassing mergers & acquisitions, private equity capital raising, initial public offerings, public bond underwritings, private debt placements and related corporate finance, valuation and strategic advisory services.

All securities offered through Zelman Partners LLC, a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD) is one of the largest commercial real estate finance and advisory services firms in the United States. Our ideas and capital create communities where people live, work, shop, and play. The diversity of our people, breadth of our brand and technological capabilities make us one of the most insightful and client-focused firms in the commercial real estate industry.

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