Vienna- and Warsaw-listed Immofinanz has unveiled a takeover bid for Austrian peer S Immo, marking the region's latest combination attempt following the recent launch of rival bids for CA Immo.
Offering a price of €18.04 per S Immo share, in line with the firm's closing price on Friday 12 March, Immofinanz said its bid was at a 13.75% premium to the average share price of S Immo over the last six months of €15.86.
However, analysts were quick to decry the bid, with SRC Research calling the offer price 'very low'. S Immo in fact has a much higher EPRA NAV per share, estimated at close to €24 based on 2020 figures. The company has also seen its share price climb by over 10% in the last three months, with the value closing at €19.12 on Monday.
Said SRC Research: 'The company managed to deliver satisfying results in a challenging year 2020 so far... the balance sheet is very healthy with a 44% equity and an LTV clearly below 50%. The issue of a seven years €150 mln green bond in February with a 1.75% coupon was another milestone to underline the excellent refinancing capabilities.'
S Immo has also just bolstered its management team. Bruno Ettenauer, formerly CEO of CA Immo, took over from Ernst Vejdovsky on 15 March as CEO of the firm. He will work alongside Ettenauer until the latter's retirement this summer. In addition, Herwig Teufelsdorfer, in former years a board member of Buwog, will join the firm as chief investment officer from April. The contract with chief operating officer Friedrich Wachernig has also been extended by another three years.
Current holdings
Immofinanz currently holds a 26.49% stake in S Immo, and is looking to secure the remaining 69.93% with its bid. An attempted merger between the two firms hit a roadblock in 2019. S Immo, in turn, holds a 12% stake in Immofinanz and a 6% stake in CA Immo, the latter of which was the subject of a failed Immofinanz takeover bid in 2018.
CA Immo's fortunes are relevant to the S Immo takeover bid, due to the current actions of Aggregate Holdings, owned by Austrian investor Günther Walcher, which is believed to be sparring with Starwood in a contest to acquire CA Immo.
Current Immofinanz CEO Ronny Pecik, who signed an agreement at the end of February to step down from the helm of the firm, also agreed to sell his 10.56% stake in Immofinanz to a vehicle controlled by Aggregate. He also holds a roughly 14% stake in S Immo, with partner Nobert Ketterer. Aggregate in turn recently increased its minority holding in S Immo to 10.79% in February.
Market watchers believe the trio of CEE-focused Austrian firms could eventually head towards a three-way merger, whatever the outcome of the most recent bids.
The takeover attempt is likely to come under scrutiny from local compeition authorities, in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
