Vienna-listed Conwert Immobilien is to acquire 25 real estate management and service providers for EUR 216 mln in order to reposition itself away from a pure real estate investor to property management and real estate services. Conwert said its goal is to transform itself into an 'integrated, full service European real estate group' focused on the residential sector.
Vienna-listed Conwert Immobilien is to acquire 25 real estate management and service providers for EUR 216 mln in order to reposition itself away from a pure real estate investor to property management and real estate services. Conwert said its goal is to transform itself into an 'integrated, full service European real estate group' focused on the residential sector.
To implement its new strategy, Conwert is acquiring two management companies, Conwert Management and ECO Management, as well as real estate service providers in Austria and Alt & Kelber Immobiliengruppe in Germany.
By covering the whole real estate value chain, Conwert said it will be able to generate additional cash-flows. The company intends to start paying dividends to its shareholders in the future, but it plans to retain 'sufficient acquisition capacity to develop and realise an attractive investment pipeline'. Conwert announced in September that it was changing its corporate structure into a Societas Europa (SE) with a one-board structure consisting of a supervisory board and executive directors. A month earlier, the Austrian company said it intended to sell 15% of its EUR 2 bn property portfolio in Austria, Germany and Central Europe in the coming years to benefit from strong investor demand in some of its core markets.
An extraordinary shareholders will be asked to approve the strategic positioning on 25 October 2007.