German bank Landesbank Hessen Thuringia (Helaba) has confirmed it has put the idea of floating its residential real estate subsidiary GWH on ice, but it did not elaborate on its reasons for the decision. GWH administers 50,000 dwellings, including 40,000 in its own portfolio, and had a turnover of EUR 275 mln in 2005.
German bank Landesbank Hessen Thuringia (Helaba) has confirmed it has put the idea of floating its residential real estate subsidiary GWH on ice, but it did not elaborate on its reasons for the decision. GWH administers 50,000 dwellings, including 40,000 in its own portfolio, and had a turnover of EUR 275 mln in 2005.
A Helaba spokeswoman confirmed to the Financial Times Deutschland that the possibility of a flotation had been looked at, but added: 'we came to the conclusion that a stock exchange course is not an option at present for GWH'. The FTD suggested Helaba may want to beef up GWH's portfolio - now valued at EUR 1 bn - to make it more attractive to potential investors before the IPO.
