Pulte Sells Stake in Mex Mortgage Banker

Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has announced the sale of its subsidiary Pulte Mortgage's investment in Hipotecaria Su Casita, a Mexico-based mortgage banking company, for approximately $50 million.Pulte Homes said remaining shareholders of Su Casita exercised their right of first refusal to acquire Pulte Mortgage's 16.7% interest in the company. The transaction is expected to result in a one-time, pretax gain of approximately $30 million in the first quarter, Pulte Homes said. "This sale of our investment in Su Casita continues the strategy of focusing all our resources on further expanding Pulte's share of the U.S. housing market," said Roger A. Cregg, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Pulte Homes.