German residential developer Instone said on Wednesday that it has placed nearly 20 million shares at €21.50 apiece as part of its listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Instone announced in January that it intended to go public, raising new equity to 'accelerate its growth'.
The move has been driven by ActivumSG Capital Management, the turnaround specialist in European real estate. ASG was a majority owner of Instone through its funds, and then in October last year the acquisition of a minority stake gave it full control.
The offering involves the issue of seven million new shares from a capital increase and nearly 13 million existing shares owned by the company's existing shareholders. The operation amounts to a total of €428 mln including the over-allotment option, giving the builder a market capitalisation of around €795 mln. Free float accounts for 53.8% of the firm's capital.
Under the offering, Instone said that it will receive net primary proceeds of €142 mln, €86 mln of which will be used to acquire and develop new residential projects. The remainder will be used to fully repay an existing shareholder loan.
'The listing of Instone is an important milestone,' said Instone's CEO Kruno Crepulja. 'We will use the major share of the primary proceeds to accelerate the growth of our business. In return, our shareholders will have the opportunity to participate in the successful development of Instone as the largest listed, fully integrated residential real estate developer active in all key metropolitan regions in Germany.'
Instone owns a development portfolio with an end value of €3.4 bn consisting of 48 projects across Germany valued at €868 mln. The company annually plans, builds and markets an average of 1,000 residential units for owner-occupiers, for private buy-to-let and for institutional investors, and has a workforce of 236 full-time employees across seven branches in Germany.
Private equity group ActivumSG Capital Management became the sole owner of Instone Real Estate in late 2017 with the acquisition of Instone founder and shareholder Steffen Göpel's stake in the German residential developer. At the time, the company was known as GRK Holding and was later merged with developer Formart under the brand of Instone Real Estate Group.
