July 5 (Reuters) -

Avant Homes, which is backed by Elliott Investment

Management, has proposed an all-share takeover bid for

London-listed rival Crest Nicholson, a source close to

the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Avant's proposal was at a premium of about 20% to

Bellway's ( BLWYF ) 650 million pound ($830.4 million) bid last

month, the source said.

Sky News, citing sources, first reported the approach

and said the bid from Avant, run by former Persimmon

chief Jeff Fairburn, was rejected by Crest and would have seen

Elliott become the biggest shareholder in the combined group.

Crest had rejected Bellway ( BLWYF ), saying the all-share

proposal undervalued the group. Crest's shares rose 5% to 258.4

pence at 1311 GMT.

"Avant is proposing a combination on the basis of NAV

(net asset value) to NAV, a shareholder ratio of about 70/30 in

Crest Nicholson's favour," the source said.

Crest Nicholson declined to comment, while Elliott did

not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Earlier this year, Barratt, one of the biggest

homebuilders in Britain, agreed to buy Redrow ( RDWWF ) in an

all-stock deal, while Vistry bought Countryside in

2022.

($1 = 0.7827 pounds)