The plan had just failed, now there is another attempt: Europe’s largest real estate group Vonovia is reaching for Deutsche Wohnen again. More money should help for the shareholders.
After the failed takeover of the smaller competitor Deutsche Wohnen, the real estate group Vonovia wants to convince the shareholders with a higher offer.
The Bochum group is making a new attempt and wants to pay the owners of Deutsche Wohnen 53 euros per share and thus one euro more than before, as the company announced on Monday night. First, however, the financial supervisory authority must give Bafin the green light.
Together, the two Dax companies are still behind the project. “Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen consider a merger of the two companies to continue to make strategic and socio-political sense,” said the press release.
With the increased offer, Deutsche Wohnen’s capital is valued at around 19 billion euros. Germany’s largest real estate group Vonovia wants to acquire at least half of the shares in the number 2 in the industry again. Vonovia narrowly failed at this threshold. Vonovia currently holds almost 30 percent of Deutsche Wohnen shares.
The group now wants to present its new offer “promptly”, but for this Vonovia will first have to ask the financial supervisory authority Bafin to lift the one-year blocking period. If the authority approves, both companies hope to bring the deal to the stage in the fourth quarter.
Vonovia, based in Bochum, owns just under 415,000 apartments (as of the end of March), 354,000 of them in Germany. This means that the company is already Europe’s largest housing group. Deutsche Wohnen, on the other hand, is the largest private landlord in the capital: around 114,000 of the more than 155,000 apartments are in the greater Berlin area. The offer to sell apartments in the state of Berlin and limit rents in the capital continues to apply, according to Deutsche Wohnen.
Both companies agree that major challenges such as climate protection, affordable housing and new buildings can be tackled together “much more powerfully”, it said. A merger would also be equally beneficial for shareholders, tenants and the housing market. Both groups expect annual savings of 105 million euros, since the joint management creates considerable cost advantages. The Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen portfolios also complemented each other ideally.
Vonovia failed to take over Deutsche Wohnen in 2016. Even then, the minimum acceptance rate for the billions was not reached. Unlike this year, however, the board of Deutsche Wohnen had classified the offer as hostile and fiercely fought against the plan.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
