Immofinanz to get 55 million shares in settlement with Constantia

Austrian real estate group Immofinanz will receive 55 million of its own shares under revised terms of a previously-agreed settlement with its former affiliate Constantia Packaging regarding the restructuring of a EUR 512 mln bond.

In a statement on Friday, Immofinanz said that the shares would be transferred directly, rather than their equivalent value (EUR 133 mln) in cash. The shares will be kept as treasury stock, and will not be sold on the market due to the strong discount (50%) to Net Asset Value (NAV) at which they are currently trading, it added.

'This transfer will give the Immofinanz Group additional latitude in the use of these shares which, in turn, will have a positive effect on NAV,' Immofinanz said. The company will also get EUR 217 mln in cash and a range of assets mostly consisting of real estate. The operation is expected to be closed by the end of August 2010.

Immofinanz, the group resulting from the merger of Immofinanz and Immoeast, first reached an agreement with Constantia Packaging in May. The agreement put an end to a longstanding dispute on a EUR 520 mln missing payment provided by Immoeast to Immofinanz Beteiligungs (IBAG) through the purchase of a bond in 2008.

Immofinanz, which in 2008 transferred the funds to a bank account held by IBAG with Constantia Privatbank, had been investigating the matter since then.