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UPDATE 1-Rollins to buy Centex's pest control biz for $137 mln

Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:34am EDT

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(Recasts, adds details)

March 31 (Reuters) - Consumer services company Rollins Inc (ROL.N) said it agreed to buy the pest control business of U.S. homebuilder Centex Corp CTX.N for about $137 million in cash to enter new markets. The deal is expected to close in early April, the companies said in a joint statement.

Rollins said it plans to operate the pest control business, HomeTeam Pest Defense, separately, along with its other wholly owned pest management subsidiaries.

HomeTeam, which has 50 offices in 13 states in the United States, works with over 1,000 builder partners and currently performs more than 1 million pest control services a year, the companies said.

Dallas-based Centex, whose brands include Centex Homes, Fox & Jacobs Homes and CityHomes, said the deal would sharpen its focus on its primary business of homebuilding.

Rollins shares were down 3 percent at $17.39, while those of Centex were up 2 percent at $24.06 on New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)



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