D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest homebuilder, has acquired South Carolina-based SK Builders, expanding its presence in the growing markets of Greenville and Spartanburg.
Sell-side advisor Whelan Advisory was brought in after an unsuccessful initial sale marketing effort. Whelan Advisory then ran a full sell-side process, contacting public and private builders, private equity investors, and Japanese companies.
Founded in 1994, SK Builders ranked 109th on the 2025 Next 100 list with 470 closings in 2024 and $155 million in annual revenue. SK Builders is the fifth largest builder in Greenville (7.7% market share) and the tenth largest builder in Spartanburg (4.2% market share), according to 2025 Local Leader data from Zonda. SK Builders specializes in entry-level homes and has a pipeline of more than 1,900 lots split between self-developed lots and optioned takedowns.
While D.R. Horton is already the largest builder by market share in both of SK Builders’ home markets, the acquisition underscores D.R. Horton’s ongoing investment in high-growth Southeastern markets. In a conversation with BUILDER in August, Whelan Advisory founder and CEO Margaret Whelan highlighted Greenville as one of several southeastern markets that will likely attract M&A activity moving forward.
“Places like Savannah, Columbia, and Greenville. These are cities where there is a lot of in-migration, relatively speaking,” she said. “They are not massive cities, not 50,000 permits a year, but they are steadily growing and there is market share available.”
Greenville and Spartanburg ranked as the No. 34 and No. 49 largest new-home markets by closings on the 2025 Local Leaders list and the Palmetto State was home to five of the top 50 markets.
Greenville has experienced above-average job growth and high-income job growth, driven by the metro’s concentration in manufacturing logistics with major employers including BMW and Michelin. In 2022, BMW committed $1.7 billion to expand electric vehicle production and build a battery plant in Woodruff in Spartanburg county, which is slated to open in 2026. Additionally, Schneider Electric announced a multi-million dollar expansion to its facility in Seneca, which will add 130 jobs to the area neighboring Greenville.
