The German government is seeking a buyer for TLG, the former liquidator turned investor that sold thousands of eastern German properties inherited at the time of reunification of the country in 1990. Chairman Volkmar von Obstfelder of TLG told Bloomberg that the Berlin-based successor to the former Treuhand Gesellschaft will be auctioned in 2008, five years after becoming profitable.
The German government is seeking a buyer for TLG, the former liquidator turned investor that sold thousands of eastern German properties inherited at the time of reunification of the country in 1990. Chairman Volkmar von Obstfelder of TLG told Bloomberg that the Berlin-based successor to the former Treuhand Gesellschaft will be auctioned in 2008, five years after becoming profitable.
'We know the east and we're an attractive asset,' von Obstfelder said. The company's net income last year rose EUR 5 mln to EUR 26 mln on assets worth EUR 1 bn, he said.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck's decision to sell TLG next year may be less influenced by the budget, which is being helped by revenue growth, than by competition for investment cash from municipalities that are selling housing and from real estate investment trusts (REITs), introduced this year. Steinbrueck has been advised in an independent review to auction TLG, said von Obstfelder. The government will forego transforming TLG into a REIT in anticipation that a strategic investor will take that step, he said.
