German residential property firm Vonovia SE has agreed to acquire rival Deutsche Wohnen SE for about 19 billion euros (US$23 billion) in the biggest-ever takeover in European real estate, a deal that risks further stoking tensions over affordable housing.
The takeover, the year’s biggest in Europe, would reshape Germany’s property industry. The country’s two largest residential landlords control more than 500,000 apartments and risk raising further concerns about the market power of big property owners.
German landlords have faced intense public pressure over the past few years over rising prices, particularly in Berlin. Activists in the nation’s capital have targeted Deutsche Wohnen in particular with a referendum that is seeking to force the city to buy out large apartment owners.
Photo: Reuters
Amid concerns over housing and tensions over the companies’ large holdings in Berlin, the deal is an effort at a “new beginning,” Vonovia chief executive officer Rolf Buch said on a conference call yesterday.
He said that he would speak with Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller later in the day to discuss the deal.
The combined company plans to offer to sell about 20,000 apartments to the city, a presentation showed.
Under the deal, Vonovia would offer 53.03 euros per share in cash for each Deutsche Wohnen share, including a proposed dividend, the companies said in a statement late on Monday.
The bid represents about an 18 percent premium to Deutsche Wohnen’s closing price on Friday last week.
The stock jumped as much as 16 percent to 52.38 euros yesterday. Vonovia’s shares fell as much as 6.8 percent to 48.57 euros.
Vonovia is planning a rights issue of as much as 8 billion euros after the completion of the transaction, expected in the second half of the year. The companies anticipate 105 million euros in cost savings a year from the joint management of their portfolios.
Deutsche Wohnen chief executive officer Michael Zahn and chief financial officer Philip Grosse are expected to be named to Vonovia’s management board after the acquisition, the companies said.
A takeover of Deutsche Wohnen would mark the crowning achievement for serial dealmaker Buch. He built Bochum-based Vonovia into a European property heavyweight through several acquisitions, including the 2019 purchase of Swedish landlord Hembla AB and a 2016 deal for Austrian developer Conwert Immobilien Invest SE.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
RSS