Miller Homes in £215m buyout of rival

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. Miller Homes has agreed to buy a rival housebuilder in a deal worth up to £215 million.

The company is acquiring St Modwen Homes which will see it expand into the southwest of England for the first time.

The purchase gives Miller 19 live sites, equivalent to 3,500 housing plots, across the Midlands and south of England.

Miller is paying £75 million upfront with a further £120 million deferred and the remainder subject to certain trigger conditions being met.

Stewart Lynes, Miller chief executive, said: “We were attracted to the quality and location of St Modwen Homes’ land, helping us grow and expand to new areas.”

Blackstone, the