Austrian listed property group Immofinanz has withdrawn its non-binding offer for the 32,000 GBW apartments being sold by Bayerische Landesbank.
Austrian listed property group Immofinanz has withdrawn its non-binding offer for the 32,000 GBW apartments being sold by Bayerische Landesbank.
Eduard Zehetner, CEO of Immofinanz, said the decision was dictated by the lack of time, rather than a loss of interest in the assets.
'Under the given constellation it is not possible for us to form a listed German-Austrian residential real estate corporation within an acceptable timeframe,' he said. 'However, we are convinced that GBW is a successfully managed residential property company with an excellent portfolio in Bavaria.'
Immofinanz will continue to target an expansion of its residential property business under the direction of its wholly owned subsidiary Buwog, both through acquisitions and via its own development projects in Germany, it added.
GBW's residential portfolio received over two dozen expressions of interest following the launch of the sale process in October last year by Bavarian bank BayernLB.
BayernLB is selling GBW, owner of 33,000 residential units in Germany, as part of a restructuring plan approved by the European Commission following a multi-billion bailout it received in the wake of the financial crisis.
Initial non-binding bids were due in mid-December. The deal, which is being managed by BayernLB's transaction team together with investment bank Lazard, is expected to be the biggest German property deal of 2013. Although there is no asking price as the value will be determined by investors' offers, it is understood that the assets could fetch over €2.5 bn. Closing is planned for April 2013.
Germany's Patrizia Immobilien has publicly expressed interest for the package while other players including Deutsche Wohnen, TAG Immobilien, Corpus Sireo as well as Conwert are all rumoured to be looking at the assets. Private equity investors Blackstone and Cerberus as well as a municipal consortium of the cities of Munich, Nuremberg and Erlangen are also understood to be considering an offer.
GBW, founded in 1936 and listed on the Munich over-the-counter market, is one of the leading residential construction companies in Bavaria. A good two-thirds of its residential portfolio is located in the major Bavarian cities of Munich, Nuremberg and Regensburg. GBW's residences enjoy a nearly 100% occupancy rate and have a value of around €2.4 bn.
