property
Vonovia now holds 87.6 percent of Deutsche Wohnen
A high-rise in the Hamburg district of Steilshoop. Photo: Jonas Walzberg / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The Bochum group continues to expand its influence. The real estate giant has succeeded in another share deal.
Germany’s largest real estate group Vonovia is expanding its power at Deutsche Wohnen. The group has again been able to collect shares in the previous number 2 in the industry and after the second acceptance period has expired, it holds 87.6 percent, as Vonovia announced on Tuesday.
The Bochum-based group recently successfully acquired a majority stake in its third attempt. This creates a European real estate giant with around 568,000 apartments, primarily in Germany.
Vonovia boss Rolf Buch started an initial takeover attempt in 2016, at the time against the will of Deutsche Wohnen management. At the second attempt this year, he was able to get the Berlin company’s management board and supervisory board on board, but not enough shareholders. They offered too few shares.
For the third attempt, Vonovia increased the offer to 53 euros per share. Because Buch also dropped several conditions for the offer, there was ultimately no doubt that the takeover would succeed. The Davidson Kempner hedge fund, which wanted to stop the takeover, had to surrender.
The deal is particularly controversial in Berlin, where Deutsche Wohnen owns around 114,000 apartments. In order to appease critics, Vonovia boss Buch had announced, among other things, a limit on regular rent increases in the capital until 2026. In addition, Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia sold 14,750 apartments in Berlin for almost 2.5 billion euros to three state-owned companies.