LEG Immobilien to go public in 2013

Germany’s LEG Immobilien has confirmed plans to launch an Initial Public Offering in 2013, taking advantage of soaring prices and strong appetite for residential real estate assets in Germany.

Dusseldorf-based LEG, which is owned by Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Funds and Perry Group, owns around 91,000 housing units, located mainly in the northwestern German region of North Rhine-Westphalia. The portfolio's most recently reported net asset value was €2.4 bn.

The shares are to be offered publicly in Germany to private investors, as well as by private placement in Germany and abroad to institutional investors, the company said. They will be quoted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Berenberg, Commerzbank, Erste Bank and Kempen are to advise on the IPO.

Goldman Sachs's Whitehall owns 90% of the group, with financial investor Perry Capital holding the remaining 10%. The two partners bought the housing company in 2008 from the state of North-Rhine Westphalia in a deal valued at €3.4 bn.

The operation would mirror Goldman Sachs' exit strategy from GSW Immobilien in 2011 and 2012. Berlin-based GSW, which was largely owned by the US bank together with private equity firm Cerberus, listed its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in April 2011, raising €470 mln of proceeds and allowing its majority owners to cash in on a large profit. In 2012, Goldman and private equity firm Cerberus raised another €175 mln by selling their remaining 19.8% stake in the German listed residential property group GSW Immobilien.