Lennar forms venture with Morgan Stanley Real Estate

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Builder Lennar Corp (LEN.N) (LEN.N) said on Friday it formed an investment venture with Morgan Stanley Real Estate and sold the venture $525 million in properties.

The properties acquired by the new entity consist of about 11,000 homesites in 32 communities across the United States, it said.

Lennar and Morgan Stanley Real Estate, an affiliate of Morgan Stanley & Co. (MS.N), formed the venture to acquire, develop, manage and sell residential real estate.

Lennar acquired a 20 percent ownership interest and 50 percent voting rights in the venture. As of September 30, the acquired properties had a net book value of $1.3 billion, it said.

(Reporting by Lisa Lee; editing by Carol Bishopric)