Immofinanz dismisses CA Immo-O1 offer as 'ridiculous'

The potential offer price for Immofinanz indicated by its suitors CA Immo and Russia's O1 is 'ridicolous', Immofinanz's chief executive Eduard Zehetner said in a statement.

'I consider the amount ridiculous. I can't imagine such an offer will succeed,' Zehetner said in response to CA Immo and O1's statement that they were considering the acquisition of a stake in Immofinanz for around €2.50 a share.

Austrian listed property firm CA Immo and its Russian shareholder O1 Group said on Thursday they are considering taking a minority stake in CEE developer-investor Immofinanz. 'The investment may include a potential joint partial tender offer for around 15% of Immofinanz at a price around the current share price,' the companies said in a joint statement.

Immofinanz shares closed at €2.51 the day prior to the announcement. The price represents a premium of about 15% on the three-month average of Immofinanz shares. It would represent an investment of €420 mln, valuing Immofinanz at €2.8 bn.

HIGHER BID
Commenting on the potential offer price, Zehetner said the two suitors would have to bid at least €4 per share. He also indicated that CA Immo and O1 may be seeking to build a stake of up to 26%.

In response to the question of whether he would characterise the potential offer as 'hostile', the CEO said: 'We're generally happy about any shareholder who's interested in us. We are a capital market player. We consider it an acknowledgement of the work we've done when a buyer is interested in investing - particularly if that buyer is from Russia.'

O1 Group, one of the largest office owners in Russia, owns a 26% stake in CA Immo after launching an €18.5-a-share offer earlier this year. The investor is believed to have approached Immofinanz shareholder Rudolf Fries about buying his group's 6.5% stake.

A tie-up between Immofinanz and CA Immo has long been rumoured. Last summer, Zehetner himself suggested that Immofinanz was interested in buying UniCredit's 16.8% stake in CA Immo. That stake was later sold to O1.

The companies cover the same geographies and are active in the same asset classes. Immofinanz has also built up a significant presence in Russia, where it owns five shopping centres in Moscow and a logistics centre in St. Petersburg.

Immofinanz owns roughly €6.8 bn in assets, largely for office, retail and residential use. It is active in eight countries across Central and Eastern Europe. The Russian portfolio generates roughly one-third of its income.

CA Immo is a Vienna-listed real estate company with a €3.5 bn portfolio consisting largely of office properties throughout Germany, Austria and Central Europe. The company has a market capitalisation of around €1.6 bn.

O1 Group is a private holding company which owns over 60% of O1 Properties, one of the largest office landlords in Moscow with almost 500,000 m2 of rentable space. Its portfolio includes the flagship $1 bn White Square complex in Moscow.