German residential giant Vonovia has announced it is waiving all offer conditions in its voluntary public takeover bid for the shares of Deutsche Wohnen.
The landlord said that the measure was being taken in accordance with its offer dated 23 August and in consultation with Deutsche Wohnen, whose board has approved the merger.
The step eliminates the need to reach a minimum acceptance threshold, which Vonovia said would ensure the success of the transaction, 'in the interest of both companies' stakeholders'.
Vonovia's commitments to the State of Berlin remain valid, including a limit on regular rent increases across the Berlin portfolio until 2026, the construction of 13,000 new flats - in particular for young families - and the offer to sell a significant number of existing flats to the Berlin authorities.
Vonovia said that the amendment to its offer would become legally effective as soon at it published the required notices in the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) and on its offer website.
Once published, the offer will not be subject to any further closing conditions, while the acceptance period will be extended by two weeks and end on 4 October.
All shareholders of Deutsche Wohnen who have tendered their shares by this deadline will receive €53 per share within a few days and no later than 14 October. An additional acceptance period is expected to start on 8 October and end on 21 October.
Both the execution of the business combination agreement between Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen and the realisation of the announced synergies in the amount of €105 mln per year are largely unaffected by the final acceptance rate of the offer, Vonovia said. The figure does not include benefits from joint financing.
Vonovia currently holds just short of 30% of the Deutsche Wohnen share capital. In addition, the landlord has signed contracts with investors regarding the purchase of approximately 6% of the outstanding shares.
Together with the already tendered shares of approximately 4%, as of 13 September, Vonovia has currently secured more than 40% of Deutsche Wohnen's share capital. It will also be able to obtain an additional 4% of Deutsche Wohnen shares following the completion of the takeover offer.
