Â鶹ӳ»­

German real estate investor Publity has begun trading on the Entry Standard segment of the Frankfurt stock exchange after a €138 mln Initial Public Offering aimed at financing the company's growth.

Publity's shares started trading on Thursday at a price of €28.50 a share giving the company a market cap of €138.5 mln.

'German and international institutional investors already hold about 20% of the share capital of the company, and the IPO will allow the company to grow further with a focus on the area of institutional asset management as well as to expand its co-investments with institutional investors in the German office and retail sectors,' the company said in a statement.

'The IPO serves to further broaden the investor base and thus gives access to the equity market as financing alternative to underpin the continued growth of the managed Investments,' it added.

The company is planning up to €1 bn of acquisitions in 2015, according to CEO and majority shareholder Thomas Olek. 'We plan to make acquisitions in cities such as Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin,' he added.

The company, which focuses on office properties and special situations, joins a short list of German commercial property owners which have opted for the stock market. Listed companies such as DIC Asset, IVG and Prime Office represent less than 2% of Germany's total underlying property market, according to EPRA.

Publity reported an operating profit of €2.8 mln in the fiscal year 2014, a 3% rise on the year before, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 19.6% to €4.7 mln in 2014.

Publity started out as an online brokerage firm in 1999 before switching its focus in 2004 to distressed real estate loans and assets held by German banks. It manages a number of closed-end property funds for private and institutional investors.

Germany Investment Briefing