Standard Pacific to Return to Status as a Corporation

Directors of Standard Pacific L.P. on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to a management plan to convert the home builder back to a publicly traded company.

The Costa Mesa construction and development company has operated as a limited partnership since December, 1986. That change was made to avoid double taxation of profits as corporate income and again as individual dividend payments, company officials said. A limited partnership pays no corporate taxes, so only the returns to individual investors are taxed.

But in the current sluggish real estate market, Standard Pacific’s limited partnership status is restricting its access to funding, the company said.

In a statement released Wednesday, company Chairman Arthur E. Svendsen said the firm has been advised by several investment consultants and analysts that changing back into a corporation “may improve access to capital markets and . . . increase the company’s appeal to institutional investors and enhance the company’s ability to obtain additional financing for growth opportunities.”

The conversion would be subject to a number of contingencies, including approval of the limited partnership investors. If the conversion is approved, each limited partnership unit would be traded in a tax-free exchange for one share of common stock. The stock would be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, where the partnership units are now traded.

Standard Pacific builds homes priced from $200,000 to $400,000 throughout California. The company reported net income of $48 million on revenue of $383 million in 1990.