Grainger to acquire 85% of FranconoRheinMain

The German subsidiary of UK property company Grainger said on Thursday that it has received acceptances of its tender offer representing about 85% of the share capital of Frankfurt-listed residential property company FranconoRheinMain.

Grainger's wholly-owned subsidiary, Grainger FRM first announced the tender offer for FranconoRheinMain in the end of January. The bid, which ran to 2 April, was subject to a number of conditions, including the tender of at least 70% of FranconoRheinMain shares. In a statement, Grainger said it will make a further announcement on the results of the tender process on 7 April 2008. The company expects to pay close to EUR 38mln for the 85% shareholding in FranconoRheinMain.

'FranconoRheinMain's high-quality portfolio is highly complementary to our existing German assets and the addition of the properties it contains provides us with an opportunity to generate strong returns through the application of our proven asset management skills', said Grainger's CEO Rupert Dickinson.

Following the completion of the transaction, Grainger will have an interest in approximately 6,800 units in Germany with a market value of close to EUR500mln.
Grainger, a member of the FTSE-250 index, is the UK's largest quoted residential property owner, with over 20,000 units under management across the UK and in Germany.