Newhall Land Development Company

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Delaware cleared the way Monday for a home builder to buy back, at a substantial discount, a chunk of the Newhall Ranch development north of Los Angeles that it sold for nearly $1 billion to the California state retirement system in 2007. Lennar Corp. said in a news release that it paid $138 million for a 15% stake in a new company, to be called Newhall Land Development Co. Five lenders will own the other 85%.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Delaware cleared the way Monday for a home builder to buy back, at a substantial discount, a chunk of the Newhall Ranch development north of Los Angeles that it sold for nearly $1 billion to the California state retirement system in 2007. Lennar Corp. said in a news release that it paid $138 million for a 15% stake in a new company, to be called Newhall Land Development Co. Five lenders will own the other 85%.

Prosecutors in the district attorney's office are trading unusually public charges of recklessness and unprofessional conduct over the way Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and his top deputy narrowed an investigation into alleged environmental crimes by one of Los Angeles County's largest land developers. At the center of the dispute is Newhall Land & Farming Co., which wants to build more than 20,000 homes on ranchland in the northern part of the county. Until last April, Deputy Dist. Atty.