APG joins PGGM in voicing concerns on GSW appointment

A second large shareholder has raised questions about the recent appointment of the new CEO at German listed residential property company GSW.

GSW’s chief executive Bernd Kottmann faces a vote of no confidence at a shareholders’ meeting on 18 June. The motion is being tabled by Dutch shareholder PGGM.

A spokesperson for APG, the largest pension fund asset manager in the Netherlands with €336 bn under management, told PropertyEU that it, too, had questions about the appointment.

PGGM, a €133 bn pension fund administrator rooted in the Dutch healthcare sector, is also seeking the removal of the chairman of GSW’s supervisory board Eckart John von Freyend.

Von Freyend led the process that selected Kottmann in March.

‘In this case, we understand the concerns PGGM has voiced. We have asked questions ourselves about this matter to the supervisory board of GSW,’ the APG spokesman said.

‘Typically we do not disclose before a shareholders’ meeting how we will vote. Currently, we are considering our stance,’ he added.

APG is listed on GSW’s website as the fifth-largest shareholder in the company with 3% of the shares. At end-December 2012, PGGM held slightly less than 3% in the German residential company.

PGGM said in a letter to GSW that there were several indications that the selection process was not carried out in a transparent manner. Both Kottmann and Von Freyend were previously employed at IVG Immobilien, the largest listed real estate company in Germany.

The supervisory board has denied the process was flawed..

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