WCM re-emerges from 2006 insolvency with €107m property buy

German listed investment company WCM has re-emerged from insolvency in 2006 with real estate acquisitions totalling €107 mln.

The company has secured share deals for four commercial properties in Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main. A further industrial property in Bremerhaven is to be contributed by way of a non-cash capital contribution.

The total rentable space amounts to 93,500 m2. The properties generate €7.5 mln in annual rent per annum and the occupancy level stands at 97.7%. The unexpired lease term is 5.7 years.

The acquisitions are being financed by bank loans and the proceeds from a planned €19 mln rights issue. Apart from the Bonn component, the transaction is scheduled to be closed by the end of 2014. The closing date for Bonn is planned for Q1, 2015.

APPOINTMENT
Stavros Efremidis, one of the key players in the transaction, has been appointed to join Manfred Schumann on WCM's management board. Efremidis was CEO of listed German residential property investor KWG from 2007 and 2012. KWG was then taken over by Austrian-based Conwert Immobilien Invest and Efremidis was put in charge of the combined group's Gerrman activities, which accounted for 80% of Convert's business.

INSOLVENCY
WCM is one of the oldest German stock companies. After an eventful history, WCM evolved into a leading investment company. It was listed in the M-Dax and at its peak had a market capitalisation of €7.5 bn. Its portfolio included industrial investments and numerous commercial and 75,000 m2 residential properties.

WCM was hit by a crisis in 2006 that led to the opening of insolvency proceedings.A court lifted the insolvency order in 2010 after the company was re-organised. This left WCM free from all its old debts and liabilities, and ready to recommence investing.