Fluor Sells Alabama Real Estate Unit

Fluor Corp. said Friday that it had sold its Daniel Realty unit in Birmingham, Ala., for about $21 million to the unit’s senior management.

The sale yielded Fluor less than $1 million in profit, which will be reflected in the Irvine-based corporation’s fourth quarter financial results, according to Fluor spokesman Rick Maslin.

Fluor officials said the sale furthers the corporation’s plan to divest itself of assets not directly related to its “core business” of engineering and construction.

David S. Tappan Jr., chairman and chief executive of Fluor, said “Daniel Realty, a real estate development, syndication and property management group, was sold as part of the company’s strategy to concentrate on Fluor’s traditional strengths.”

Fluor acquired Daniel Realty as part of its 1977 acquisition of Daniel International, an open-shop, general construction and engineering firm based in Greenville, S.C., that currently generates 70% of Fluor’s project backlog. Last week Daniel International and Fluor Engineers were joined as the Fluor Daniel Engineering and Construction Group, headed by Leslie G. McCraw Jr.

Daniel Realty manages 6,500 apartments and more than 3 million square feet of commercial space and is involved in several land developments. The company’s business is concentrated in the Southeast, especially the Birmingham area.