Vonovia

Vonovia is a real estate company based in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.[1] Its history goes back to Deutsche Annington,[2] which merged with GAGFAH and was subsequently renamed Vonovia.[3][4] The company currently owns around 400,000 apartments in Germany, Sweden, and Austria,[5] making it a significant market player in these countries.[6][7] Vonovia is a member of the DAX 30 and STOXX Europe 600 blue-chip indexes, and is one of the largest listed companies in Germany and Europe.[8]

Vonovia SE
FormerlyDeutsche Annington
TypePublic
FWB: VNA
DAX Component
ISINDE000A1ML7J1
IndustryReal estate
PredecessorGAGFAH
Founded2001 (2001) in Düsseldorf, Germany
Headquarters
Bochum
,
Germany
Areas served
  • Germany (84%)
  • Sweden (11%)
  • Austria (5%)
Key people
Revenue €3,670.9 million (2019)
€1,218.6 million (2019)
Total assets €56,497.7 million (2019)
Total equity €21,069.7 million (2019)
Number of employees
 10,345 (2019)
Subsidiaries
  • BUWOG
  • Hembla Group
  • Victoria Park
Websitevonovia.de
Footnotes / references
Annual Report 2019

History

Early years

At the end of the 1990s, the German government decided to privatize railway workers' homes as part of the railway reform.[9][10] The Japanese financial group Nomura Holdings and its subsidiary Deutsche Annington (named after Annington Homes from Great Britain) sought to acquire them.[11] After years of negotiations, the company finally received a significant share in 2000.[12][13] The company responded to criticism of the sale with extensive exclusive rights, such as a lifetime right of residence and a restriction on rent increases.[14] Besides, tenants were allowed to purchase their property.[15] In the following years, Deutsche Annington invested in further smaller stocks of railway workers' apartments, which had previously remained in the ownership of the federal government.[16]

Acquisitions

Deutsche Annington took over several smaller holdings, for example, from Allianz and RWE.[17][18] In 2003, the E.ON energy group also put its real estate business up for sale under the name Viterra.[19] With the acquisition of over 150,000 apartments, Deutsche Annington became the market leader in Germany.[20] It was the largest transaction of its kind in the country's history,[21] which met with criticism from unions and tenant protection associations alike.[22] In the course of this, Terra Firma Capital Partner's majority shareholding in Deutsche Annington was repeatedly brought up as a central theme.[23][24]

Deutsche Annington achieved its returns with a combination of renting and selling apartments. It was instrumental in shaping the concept of socially responsible tenant privatization.[25] In this way, the company wanted to raise funds to expand its portfolio to half a million and later even to one million apartments.[26] In 2007, Deutsche Annington announced that it would again turn away from tenant privatization. From then on, the company concentrated on smaller acquisitions,[27][28] such as the Sparkasse savings bank subsidiary Corpus.[29]

Going public

In 2010, the profit of Deutsche Annington exceeded the 500 million euro mark for the first time.[30] Nevertheless, the global economic and financial crisis made access to cheap debt capital more difficult. Refinancing became one of the main problems of the entire real estate industry.[31] For this reason, an IPO was back on the agenda.[32][33] To this end, the company hired Rolf Buch, a former member of the Bertelsmann executive board, as CEO.[34] He emphasized above all the size of the company as a distinguishing feature.[35] The rise in key interest rates dampened the interest of potential investors so that the IPO had to be postponed several times.[36][37] In 2013, Deutsche Annington finally placed its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with a lower volume and a reduced issue price.[38][39] Two years later, the company became the first representative of the real estate industry to be included in the DAX, the index of the largest listed stock corporations in Germany.[40]

Vonovia origins

The media had already reported on Deutsche Annington's interest in GAGFAH in 2003.[41] At the end of 2014, Deutsche Annington then officially offered to take over the competitor for around 3.9 billion euros to create a leading residential property group in Europe.[42][43][44] Following the approval of the shareholders and the antitrust authorities, the transaction was completed ahead of schedule in March 2015.[45][46][47] In 2015, the annual General Meeting voted to rename the company Vonovia to modernize its external image.[4] The administrative and statutory headquarters were moved to the new offices in Bochum.[48][49]

European expansion

In contrast, Vonovia failed with its offer for Deutsche Wohnen,[50][51] but at least prevented the planned merger with LEG Immobilien.[52][53] The company then turned to the neighboring states: A strategic partnership was agreed with the French housing company Société Nationale Immobilière (now CNC Habitat)[54] in 2017.[55] The acquisition of Conwert Immobilien and BUWOG made Vonovia the leading real estate group in Austria in 2018.[56][57][58] In the same year, the company exceeded the threshold of 50% of the shares in the Swedish housing company Victoria Park,[59] which has been 100% owned by Vonovia since 2019.[60] Vonovia expanded its position there by acquiring its Swedish rival Hembla.[61]

Company

Vonovia is a European stock company (Societas Europaea, SE for short).[1] Its shares are traded on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.[62] They are part of the DAX and listed in the STOXX Europe, MSCI Germany, and EPRA, for example.[63] According to the Deutsche Börse definition, more than 90 % are in free float. Vonovia's largest shareholders include the American fund company BlackRock (7.5 %) and the Norwegian central bank Norges Bank (6.6 %).[64] The majority of investors are pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, international asset managers, and other long-term investors. There are also individual shareholders.[65]

The company's constitution follows the dualistic system of an executive board ("Vorstand") and a controlling body board ("Aufsichtsrat").[66] Currently, Vonovia is managed by Rolf Buch (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer), Arnd Fittkau, Helene von Roeder, and Daniel Riedl.[67] The supervisory board of Vonovia has twelve members,[68] led by Jürgen Fitschen, former Co-Chairman of the management board of Deutsche Bank.[69][70]

Portfolio

According to the annual report 2019, Vonovia owned 416,236 residential units, 138,176 garages and parking spaces, as well as 6,748 commercial units. These extended to 653 domestic and foreign cities and municipalities. Based on a total fair market value of more than 52 billion euros, the vast majority of the portfolio was located in Germany (84%), with the remainder in and Sweden (11%), and Austria (5%). Also, 78,691 apartments were managed by Vonovia on behalf of third parties.[71]

References
  1. "Unternehmensregister" (in German). Bundesanzeiger Verlag. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. Bernd Wittkowski (9 May 1998). "Ein Markt von 500.000 Wohneinheiten: Die neue Deutsche Annington strebt eine führende Position an". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 12.
  3. "Deutsche Annington will Gagfah kaufen". Finance Magazin (in German). 1 December 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. "Neues Image: Aus Annington soll Vonovia werden". Die Welt (in German). 21 March 2015. p. 15.
  5. Matthias Streit (7 March 2019). "Vonovia: Zwischen Rekordgewinn und Imagepflege". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  6. Volker ter Haseborg (18 December 2018). "Wie Vonovia-Chef Rolf Buch ein Immobilienimperium formte". Wirtschaftswoche (in German). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  7. Götz Hamann (10 September 2015). "Er kann es doch". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  8. Christoph Rottwilm (4 September 2015). "Aufstieg mit Schattenseiten: Vonovia kommt in den DAX". Manager Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  9. "117.000 Eisenbahnerwohnungen stehen kurz vor dem Verkauf". Handelsblatt (in German). 16 April 1998. p. 7.
  10. "Wohnungsheer in Staatshand". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German). 21 August 1998.
  11. Bernd Wittkowski (9 May 1998). "Ein Markt von 500.000 Wohneinheiten: Die neue Deutsche Annington strebt eine führende Position an". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 12.
  12. "Bahnwohnungen: Nomura erhält Mammutanteil". WirtschaftsWoche (in German). 23 November 2000. p. 13.
  13. Sabine Rössing (16 June 2000). "Nomura-Tochter tritt ein zweites Mal an". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 22.
  14. "5,1 Milliarden für Verkehrsminister – Verkauf der Bahnwohnungen ist umstritten". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 1 December 2000. p. 24.
  15. Robert Ummen (8 March 2002). "Deutsche Annington verkauft Bahnwohnungen an die Mieter". Die Welt (in German). p. 16.
  16. Manfred Schulze (22 December 2001). "Eisenbahner-Wohnungen: Drei Viertel des Bestandes verkauft. Übernahme durch Annington-Gruppe an 217 Standorten". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German).
  17. "Deutsche Annington übernimmt 322 Allianz-Wohnungen". Die Welt (in German). 28 April 2004. p. 24.
  18. Monika Hillemacher (20 December 2004). "Deutsche Annington kauft RWE-Wohnungen". Immobilien-Zeitung (in German).
  19. "Viterra fühlt sich bereit für den Verkauf". Handelsblatt (in German). 17 December 2003. p. 16.
  20. "Deutsche Annington erwirbt Viterra". Handelsblatt (in German). 11 May 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  21. Martin Kessler (18 May 2005). "Der Wohnungsdeal des Jahres". Rheinische Post (in German).
  22. "Kein Vertrauen in fremde Vermieter". Handelsblatt (in German). 7 October 2005. p. 7.
  23. "Sieben-Milliarden-Deal: E.ON verkauft 152.000 Wohnungen an britischen Investor". Spiegel Online (in German). 17 May 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  24. "Eon verkauft Viterra an britische Investmentfirma". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 17 May 2005. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  25. Manfred Waldmann (13 January 2005). "Immer mehr Mieter wollen ihre Wohnung kaufen". Die Welt (in German). p. 23.
  26. Reinhard Hönighaus (19 August 2005). "Deutsche Annington setzt Einkaufstour fort". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 17.
  27. Christoph Ruhkamp (18 January 2007). "Kurswechsel bei Börsenkandidat Annington". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 1.
  28. "Ehrgeizige Pläne". Bonner General-Anzeiger (in German). 7 August 2006. p. 18.
  29. Christoph Ruhkamp (18 January 2007). "Wohnungs-Deal: Annington kauft Paket von Corpus". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 2.
  30. Reiner Reichel (26 April 2011). "Annington macht sich hübsch für die Börse". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 36.
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  34. Hans-Peter Siebenhaar, Reiner Reichel (1 March 2013). "Der neue Herr im Haus". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 70.
  35. Walther Becker (11 June 2013). "„Größe ist wichtiges Differenzierungsmerkmal"". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 13.
  36. Heidi Rohde, Annette Becker (8 June 2013). "Störfeuer züngelt an Annington-IPO". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 10.
  37. "Annington-Börsengang stößt auf Skepsis". Handelsblatt (in German). 26 June 2013. p. 31.
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  41. Michael Gassmann (2 October 2003). "Deutsche Annington plant Gebot für Immobiliengruppe Gagfah – Rentenversicherer BfA verkauft 80 000 Mietwohnungen". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 12.
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  44. Manfred Waldmann (6 March 2007). "Elefantenhochzeit am Wohnungsmarkt: Finanzinvestor Terra Firma bietet Deutsche Annington zum Verkauf an – als „Traumpartner" wird die Gagfah genannt". Die Welt (in German). p. 23.
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  48. Andreas Rorowski (7 December 2015). "Immobilienriese Vonovia bleibt in Bochum". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  49. "Vonovia ist künftig zu 100 Prozent ein Bochumer Unternehmen". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 17 May 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
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  54. Barbara Kiraly (30 January 2018). "Logement social : SNI devient CDC Habitat". Le Moniteur (in French). Retrieved 20 August 2019.
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  57. "Vonovia-Angebot für Buwog erfolgreich". Der Standard (in German). 12 March 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  58. "Vonovia auf Weg zum größten Immobilienkonzern in Österreich". Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 13 March 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  59. "Vonovia übernimmt schwedischen Wohnungskonzern Victoria Park". Handelsblatt (in German). 18 June 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  60. Thomas Bergmann (25 April 2019). "Vonovia will die Schweden zu 100 %". Der Aktionär (in German). Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  61. Christoph Rottwilm (23 September 2019). "Milliardendeal: Vonovia baut Portfolio in Schweden aus". Manager Magazin (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  62. "Vonovia" (in German). Börse Frankfurt. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  63. Olaf Weber (1 June 2019). "Weichen des Erfolgs frühzeitig stellen". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). p. 6.
  64. "Shareholder Structure". Vonovia. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  65. "Aktionärsverteilung". Der Aktionär (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  66. "Articles of Association" (in German). Vonovia. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  67. "Management Board" (in German). Vonovia. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  68. "Supervisory Board" (in German). Vonovia. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  69. "Vonovia beruft Jürgen Fitschen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 5 March 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  70. Reiner Reichel (11 May 2018). "Fitschens Neuanfang". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 38.
  71. "Portfolio in the Property Management Business" (in German). Vonovia. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
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