Macquarie acquires major stake in German RE website

Australia's Macquarie Bank and Sydney-based media company Publishing and Broadcasting have led the acquisition by a syndicate of just over 66% of German real estate website Immobilien Scout. The purchase of the stake for EUR 375 mln from Aareal Bank values the leading property portal at EUR 540 mln. Aareal said it sold the stake to focus on its core structured property finance and consulting in the residential sector.

'By increasing our stake back in April, we built the foundation for maximising the value of the stake held in Immobilien Scout for Aareal Bank and its shareholders,' Aareal chairman Wolf Schumacher said. 'We are very satisfied with the selling price agreed upon. The successful sale will generate additional capital which we will then be able to invest in further developing our core businesses.'









1Aareal Bank sells majority stake in Immobilien Scout GmbH,
raises earnings forecast for the 2007 financial year

, 15 August 2007 – Aareal Bank AG has sold its 66.22% stake in
Immobilien Scout GmbH, Berlin, to a syndicate of investors led by Macquarie
Bank Ltd and Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd, both based in Sydney, Australia.
The purchase price values Immobilien Scout GmbH, the market leader amongst
property internet portals in Germany, at € 540 million.
This non-recurring effect will increase the consolidated net income after minority
interests by approx. € 140 million. Additionally, retained earnings in accordance
with IFRS will be increased by around € 14 million. The bank has thus raised its
previous target of net return on equity after taxes in excess of 13% for the 2007
financial year to clearly over 20%.
Within the scope of realigning its group structure, to focus on the core business
segments of Structured Property Financing and Consulting/Services to the
institutional housing sector, Aareal Bank had indicated that it would examine
strategic options regarding its shareholding in Immobilien Scout.
“By increasing our stake back in April, we built the foundation for maximising the
value of the stake held in Immobilien Scout for Aareal Bank and its
shareholders”, said Dr. Wolf Schumacher, Chairman of the Management Board
of Aareal Bank. “We are very satisfied with the selling price agreed upon.
The successful sale will generate additional capital which we will then be able to
invest in further developing our core businesses.”
“We already pursued a strategy of consistently divesting non-strategic
shareholdings over recent years, to fully concentrate on developing our core
businesses”, said Hermann J. Merkens, Members of Aareal Bank’s
Management Board, adding that “the ImmoScout transaction represents a
further key milestone in this context.”
Scout24 AG, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG and Aareal Bank's coshareholder
in Immobilien Scout GmbH, has a pre-emptive right. The transfer of
the stake is also subject to approval by the Supervisory Board of Immobilien
Scout GmbH. This has been taken into account in the purchase agreement,
with provisions included to prevent any adverse effects for Aareal Bank.
Furthermore, the sale to the syndicate is subject to approval by the German
Federal Cartel Office in Berlin. The closing of the transaction, at which time the
sales proceeds will be recognised, is expected before the end of the year.
Aareal Bank had already acquired an additional stake of approx. 24% in the
capital of Immobilien Scout GmbH from private equity investors in April 2007,
bringing its total stake to approx. 54% at that time. The bank subsequently
raised its shareholding to 66.22% through several additional purchases.
Aareal Bank
Aareal Bank AG is one of the leading international property specialists listed in Deutsche Börse’s
MDAX index. The bank is active across three continents. Based on its successful European
business model, Aareal Bank has developed a similar platform in North America and Asia/Pacific
and provides property financing solutions in more than 25 countries. The clients are domestic and
international investors.