Deutsche Bank mandated to sell Catella Group

Catella's shareholders, the Catella Foundation and InterIkea, have mandated Deutsche Bank to divest the entire Catella Group, which is headquartered in Stockholm and employs a staff of 475 across Europe, with activities ranging from financial services, real estate advisory and asset management. The Catella Foundation holds a 91% stake in Catella while InterIkea has controlled 9% of the company since 1991.

'We have owned the company for a number of years and it has been a good ownership structure but we now feel that a foundation is not the best type of owner for a company like Catella and together with InterIkea we have decided to sell the business,' Catella Chairman Lars Bertmar told PropertyEU in an interview. 'We are considering different options at the moment,' he added.

According to Bertmar, the sale process is still in the preliminary stages but plans exist to reach an agreement with potential investors by the end of June. Bertmar: 'We should be able to announce more in the next two months.' A number of financial services groups and asset managers are believed to be looking to buy the Swedish company. Bertmar declined to comment on potential buyers.

Bertmar said that there are no plans to separate the company's two divisions, Catella Property, focusing on real estate services, and Catella Capital, active in investment and asset management services.

Catella has significantly expanded its range of services across Europe over the past years. The group's real estate advisory arm has offices in 15 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the UK) and employs a staff of around 270.