Vienna- and Warsaw-listed property group Immofinanz has dismissed a bid by US private equity firm Starwood Capital Group for a 5% stake in the CEE property owner, calling the price it was offering 'inappropriate'.
'In view of the sustainable and steady improvement in key performance indicators and the positive outlook for Immofinanz’s business development, the executive board considers the announced offer price of €2.10 per share to be inappropriate,' Immofinanz said in a statement on Tuesday.
The company noted that the offered price is roughly 25% below EPRA NAV of €2.81 a share as of 30 September 2017.
An affiliate of US investor Starwood Capital Group, SOF-11 Starlight 10 EUR, launched a voluntary partial public takeover offer to Immofinanz shareholders at the same time as it launched a similar bid for up to 26% of the capital of Vienna-listed CA Immo.
CA Immo's shareholders are being offered €27.50 per share for a total of 25,690,167 shares, subject to merger control clearance and under the guarantee that CA Immo would suffer 'no material adverse change', such as 'merger, spin-off or split'.
Starwood also said that it does not intent to completely take over CA Immo, which will continue to be listed in case the offer is successful.
CA Immo embraces Starwood bid
The management board of CA Immo last week responded with a statement saying it 'in general welcomes the interest', describing Starwood as a 'financial investor with an excellent reputation'.
CA Immo's management concluded: 'After today’s consultation, Starwood Capital, which is well known to the company due to its investor relations activities and in the course of individual meetings, will support CA Immo’s growth objectives and strategy.
The Starwood offer comes in the wake of the failed merger of CA Immo with Immofinanz, which is its largest shareholder with a 26% stake and may now consider a sale of its shares to Starwood.
Immofinanz said earlier in March that it would no longer seek a merger with CA Immo and that it would consider new, more profitable options with regard to its stake, including the potential profitable sale of its shares, which would net around €40 mln at the current prices.
