Investors before takeover of Aareal Bank

Dhe financial investors Advent and Centerbridge can Aareal Bank take over as planned. The investment companies announced on Wednesday that the minimum acceptance threshold of 60 percent, to which a successful bid for the Wiesbaden real estate financier was linked, had been exceeded. The exact result is expected to be announced next Monday. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter or first quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals.

The original acceptance period expired at midnight on Wednesday night. The bidders have now announced a two-week extension – this is expected to begin on May 31st and end on June 13th, also at midnight. Aareal Bank shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares can do so by then. Advent and Centerbridge are offering EUR 33 per Aareal share, which includes the dividend of EUR 1.60. The offer values ​​the bank at almost two billion euros.

Analysts were confirmed in their expectations by the success of the offer. The still outstanding competition and banking regulatory approvals should “not represent an insurmountable hurdle,” said industry expert Timo Dums from DZ Bank.

There had been a long tug of war about the institute. At the beginning of February, a first takeover attempt by Advent and Centerbridge, which the board of directors and supervisory board of the money house had expressly endorsed, failed due to resistance from major shareholders. In a second attempt, the financial investors then submitted a new, higher offer with the Canadian pension fund CPPIB in April.