ADO Properties to acquire control of peer Consus Real Estate

[FRANKFURT] German property group ADO Properties exercised options to acquire control of domestic peer Consus Real Estate, following through with the second step of a three-way merger creating one of Europe's largest listed property groups.

ADO said on Monday it would now launch a tender offer at 0.2390 ADO shares for each Consus share, already having received irrevocable commitments from investors to get more than 80 per cent in Consus.

ADO, Consus and the third merger partner Adler Real Estate late last year announced a deal to form Europe's fourth largest listed property firm, seeking cost synergies to better compete with larger rivals such as Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen .

Upon completion of developer Consus' pipeline, ADO's portfolio will grow to 14 billion euros, with two thirds of the properties located in Germany's top seven cities, ADO said, adding that the transaction is expected to generate synergies of 90-104 million euros by the end of 2021.

ADO is planning a 450 million euros rights issue in the third quarter and intends to cancel the dividend for 2019. As a result of the merger and the rights issue, ADO is expected to become a candidate for inclusion in Germany's mid-cap index , the group said.

REUTERS