Deutsche Annington starts trading as Vonovia

Germany’s largest listed homeowner Deutsche Annington started trading under its new name Vonovia on the Frankfurt stock exchange this week.

The new name was conceived following the merger between Deutsche Annington and sector peer Gagfah earlier this year.

‘The brand positioning is based on our new identity and corporate mission statement. Our intentionally reducing the logo down to the lettering and doing away with additional elements is our way of communicating what we intend to focus on, namely our customers,’ said Rolf Buch, CEO of Vonovia.

In terms of business operations, the name Vonovia will be adopted at the turn of the year, after which the new brand will be used both in internal and external communications. ‘We will take a grounded approach to introducing the brand – keeping our sights firmly set on the interests of our tenants,’ Buch added.

Acquisitions of businesses including Gagfah, Dewag and Vitus have enabled Deutsche Annington to double its property portfolio in the past three years to 350,000 housing units valued at over €21 bn. The company said last month that it will integrate Gagfah more quickly than expected, pushing up its rental income to about €1.4 bn this year, up from €789.3 mln in 2014.