Deutsche Annington, Europe’s largest residential landlord, has unveiled plans to expand in southern Germany with the €1.9 bn acquisition of the Südewo Group from a fund managed by Patrizia Immobilien.
Deutsche Annington, Europe’s largest residential landlord, has unveiled plans to expand in southern Germany with the €1.9 bn acquisition of the Südewo Group from a fund managed by Patrizia Immobilien.
Deutsche Annington, which is already in the process of taking over peer Gagfah, has reached an agreement to buy the residential landlord which owns a total of 19,800 units.
'In the highly fragmented German market for rented housing we are availing of another opportunity to strategically expand our nationwide position,' said Rolf Buch, CEO of Deutsche Annington.
To fund the purchase, which includes the assumption of €800 mln of debt, Deutsche Annington plans to carry out a €2.25 bn capital increase. Closing is expected for the beginning of July.
Augsburg-based Patrizia bought the package in 2012 for €1.44 bn. The company has raised its forecast for the current and next fiscal years based on the transaction. The combined operating result for the two years will be at least €200 mln, it said in a separate statement.
The portfolio will strengthen Deutsche Annington’s presence in the state of Baden-Württemberg, where the company already has a portfolio of around 15,000 homes. The newly acquired housing units have a very low vacancy rate of just 2.4% and are spread over several locations, including the cities of Stuttgart, Ulm and Mannheim.
'Following the acquisition of Vitus Group in northern Germany, the acquisition of DeWAG in the south and the merger with Gagfah, through which we strengthened our presence in the metropolitan regions of Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden, we are now further expanding our market position in the particularly attractive southern region,' added Buch. 'With the acquisition of the Südewo Group we are moving a step closer to our goal of having a balanced portfolio in all attractive regions of Germany.'
