property
Financial investors plan new bid for Aareal Bank
The Aareal Bank in Wiesbaden. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A recent takeover attempt failed. Now the same investors are trying again to buy Aareal Bank. The omens are more favorable this time.
The takeover gamble surrounding Aareal Bank is entering a new round. The financial investors Advent and Centerbridge are planning a new takeover bid for the commercial real estate financier from Wiesbaden.
In the first attempt, they failed due to the resistance of several major shareholders. Now the bidders want to dig even deeper into their pockets. The bank values the offer of EUR 33 per share, which is intended to be “promptly”, at a total of almost EUR 2 billion. The previously unwilling major shareholders are going along this time, as the prospective buyers and Aareal Bank announced on Tuesday morning.
At the beginning of February, Advent, Centerbridge and the Canadian pension fund CPPIB failed with their joint takeover bid. Even an increase in the offer from 29 to 31 euros per share and a minimum acceptance threshold lowered to 60 percent did not lead to success. The hedge funds Petrus Advisers and Teleios had not only refused the offer with their Aareal shares, but also called on other shareholders not to accept it.
agreement reached
However, Advent and Centerbridge have now reached an agreement with Petrus, Teleios and the other major shareholders Vesa and Talomon. According to the statement from the potential bidders, they have agreed to accept the new offer under consideration. The four major shareholders would tender a total of 37 percent of the Aareal shares or sell them to the bidders outside of the takeover bid. According to the bank, this time the financial investors are considering a minimum acceptance threshold of no more than 60 percent. They would only have to win over shareholders with around 23 percent of the shares.
Petrus, Teleios, Vesa and Talomon also want to join the group of investors around Advent and Centerbridge. According to the announcement by Advent and Centerbridge, they have agreed to invest parts of the purchase price received in a long-term indirect stake of around 20 percent in the bidder company.
At Aareal Bank, there is talk of “exclusively non-voting shares” for the four previous major shareholders. And: “A direct influence of these investors on the Aareal Bank Group would thus be excluded.” In addition, the group of investors is expected to include the CPPIB pension fund again.
The offer of EUR 33 per Aareal share under consideration again includes the bank’s planned dividend. The commercial real estate financier had announced that it would pay out EUR 1.60 per share to its shareholders for the past year.
The Executive Board and Supervisory Board now want to discuss whether to postpone the Annual General Meeting scheduled for May 18th. That’s where the dividend should actually be decided. According to the bank, it is not yet possible to assess “whether there will actually be another takeover bid or not”.