Silvercrest Sells Its Mobile Home Building Business

Silvercrest Industries in Santa Ana said Friday that it has sold its mobile home manufacturing business to a Dallas firm, reducing Silvercrest to a fraction of its former size.

Silvercrest, which garnered most of its revenue from mobile home manufacturing, also reported a $2.2-million loss for its fiscal third quarter, ended March 31.

The company said a costly lawsuit over a 385-acre mobile home park in the San Fernando Valley and its continuing troubles in developing and selling 800 mobile homes at the park--Santiago Estates--caused most of the losses last year.

The company said it recently settled that court fight by agreeing to pay Los Angeles housing giant Kaufman & Broad $2.75 million.

Silvercrest sold the mobile home business--which includes what the company says is the biggest mobile home factory west of the Mississippi, in Corona--for $175,000 in cash, a note for $275,000 and assumption of $15.9 million in debt.

The purchaser is Western Homes Corp., a subsidiary of Dallas-based Redman Industries Inc., a big mobile home manufacturer. The sale had been expected.

Silvercrest’s quarterly loss was more than double the $807,000 loss it had in last year’s fiscal third quarter. Its quarterly revenue fell slightly to $14 million this year from $14.4 million last year.

For the first 9 months, Silvercrest posted a loss of $2.1 million. Its revenue grew 13% to $48 million for the period from $42.4 million for the same period last year.