ESTAVIS AG
Jacopo Mingazzini
For Jacopo Mingazzini, CEO of Accentro Real Estate AG, the problem is also the higher level of equity capital required as real estate prices increase: ‘Here the government should provide assistance as a matter of urgency, with greater support for equity capital as well as a reduction in the incidental purchase costs, he said.
Among German listed companies raising further capital this month were Berlin residential specialist Accentro, and commercial real estate investor DEMIRE Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate.
Accentro, which focuses on residential property privatization, is raising €20.14m in cash capital by issuing 2.12 million new shares at €9.50 each with institutional investors in a private placement. The price paid is discount of 4.2% on the previous day’s closing price of €9.92 per share (the shares have tumbled along with the market since then). Baader Bank AG and Quirin Privatbank AG acted as joint bookrunners for the transaction, with VICTORIA PARTNERS acting as financial advisor.
The funds are to be invested in the expansion of its privatization portfolio, which has now expanded out beyond its traditional Berlin heartland.
Accentro’s CEO Jacopo Mingazzini said, “We want to use the proceeds of the capital increase to finance the next growth spurt. We are also significantly expanding our free float on the stock exchange with the transaction and thus further boosting the appeal of our share to investors both at home and abroad.” The free float in the company is now 12.1%, following the takeover of a majority of the company by London-based Brookline Real Estate in November 2017.
Accentro said it signed agreements for a further 336 residential units in Berlin and Leipzig in the last quarter, and is reviewing deals for a further 1,200 units.
DEMIRE, headquartered in Langen near Frankurt am Main, is increasing its share capital by nearly half to €107.6 million shares, issuing 34.5 million new shares at €4.35 per share, which will generate €150m. The company plans to use the proceeds and loans to finance several new property investments with a volume of €350m.
The company said it is “in various stages of preparation and exclusive negotiations with the sellers of these properties and portfolios”, with the signing on one of the deals said to be imminent. As part of the capital increase, shareholders can acquire 17 new shares for 36 existing shares. Major shareholder Apollo, whose vehicle AEPF III 15 S.à r.l holds almost 50 % of DEMIRE, intends to fully exercise its subscription rights as well as all subscription rights not exercised by other shareholders. The subscription period will begin on October 30th and end on November 12th. Baader Bank is the Sole Global Coordinator and sole bookrunner for the rights issue.
Ralf Kind, CEO and acting CFO of DEMIRE, said of the capital increase, “We are very pleased by the continued commitment of our anchor shareholder in implementing our DEMIRE 2.0 strategy. With the proceeds of the issue we intend to realise a first significant growth step of up to €350 million. In addition, we have a strong acquisition pipeline that gives us the confidence to achieve our targeted portfolio goal of €2 billion.”
