Lennar to buy back land at discount - WSJ

March 20 (Reuters) - No. 2 US homebuilder Lennar Corp (LEN.N), which largely cashed out of one of the nation's biggest land ventures near the top of the market, is close to a deal to pick up some of the pieces at a significant discount, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Lennar sold much of its interest in the venture, LandSource Communities Development LLC [MCFARL.UL], in February 2007 to pension fund California Public Employees Retirement System for about $707 million. LandSource sought bankruptcy protection in June 2007.

Now Lennar is negotiating with creditors of LandSource to create a new company that would acquire much of the land out of bankruptcy, including the venture's crown jewel, the 12,000-acre Newhall Ranch north of Los Angeles, the paper said.

Lennar and several hundred creditors holding $1 billion of the venture's debt would contribute "substantial" equity to the new company, the report said, citing the summary of the proposed agreement. (Reporting by Bijoy Koyitty in Bangalore; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)