Immofinanz raises 758 million with CA Immo Exit

Vienna. About two years ago, Immofinanz bought a lot of its competitor CA Immo. This should have followed following a merger of the two largest national real estate companies. But after a lot of back and forth, Immofinanz canceled the project. In April, she then announced that she was looking for a buyer for her CA Immo stock package. Now Immofinanz found it. As the listed company announces Monday, the US investor Starwood Capital acquires the 26% stake in CA Immo of nearly 758 million euros. This price is equivalent to 29.50 euros per share, about 2% more than the current price of CA Immo and close to its historical high.

The sale, whose official closing is expected for the current third quarter, L'Immofinanz realizes a net profit of about 184 million euros (including dividends). She estimates the "return on investment" achieved in just over two years with a total of about 30%. Immofinanz bought the CA Immo package in April 2016 for around 604 million euros, or 23.50 euros per share. The package, which now goes to Starwood, includes more than 25.69 million bearer shares and four registered shares, whose detachment rights are tied to CA Immo's board.

Net sales of the sale drain nearly 508 million euros into the coffers of the company. Immofinanz. Although an amount of about 758 million euros is repaid, the repayment of an amount related to the entry financing of CA Immo has reduced this amount by 250 million.

A portion of the incoming funds will now be allocated to the new repurchase of own shares, It is expected to acquire up to 9.7 million shares – which equals 8, 66% of outstanding shares of Immofinanz – as announced by CEO Oliver Schumy in a statement. Officially, the buyout should begin on July 16th. The dividend for this year should however remain unchanged at 80 cents per share

Immofinanz shares increase The latest news from Immofinanz have been well received on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Against a backdrop of weakness, the Immofinanz share rose Monday's 3.6% to 21.14 euros. The course of CA Immo was also firmer – with a gain of 1.6% to 29.00 euros.

For Starwood, the replacement of Immofinanz as the sole largest shareholder means that the major entrance planned in the Austrian real estate sector but still successful. As indicated, the Americans had made a public offer in the spring up to 26% at CA Immo and up to 5% at Immofinanz. However, their offer was deemed too weak by their shareholders, which is why they were offered only 0.16% at CA Immo and 0.21% at Immofinanz.

Starwood specializes primarily in real estate, but also in energy infrastructure as well as oil and gas. The investment house founded in 1991 has about 3800 employees. He currently manages badets of about $ 56 billion. In Europe, the US fund has been active since the mid-1990s. In particular, it considers Austria, Germany, and Eastern Europe as "attractive markets."