Desk News: Legal & General, the FTSE-100 insurance and asset management giant, is poised to finalize the sale of its housebuilding subsidiary, Cala Group, this week. The frontrunner in the race to acquire Cala is Sixth Street, a US-based investor, which has teamed up with Patron Capital Partners, Cala’s former owner. If successful, Sixth Street is expected to hold the larger share of the company.

The sale, expected to value Cala between £1.2bn and £1.3bn, comes as part of a strategic move by Legal & General to streamline its operations. Antonio Simoes, the recently appointed CEO of Legal & General, confirmed that Cala had been earmarked for sale as part of broader efforts to simplify the company’s structure.

While Sixth Street is currently leading the bid, discussions are still ongoing with Persimmon, another FTSE-100 housebuilder, which could potentially offer a higher bid. An official announcement from Legal & General is anticipated later this week.

This sale is occurring amidst a flurry of activity in the housebuilding sector, with other major deals such as Barratt Developments’ £2.5bn acquisition of Redrow and Bellway’s abandoned bid for Crest Nicholson. The outcome of the Cala sale will be closely watched by industry stakeholders.