Corestate succeeds with long-awaited market flotation
The Luxembourg-headquarterd Corestate Capital Group finally succeeded in getting its IPO away earlier this month when shares started trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on October 4th at €17.40, giving the company a market capitalisation of €219.4m.
The company also pushed through a capital increase just prior to going public by means of a private placement at €17.00, raising €43m.
The launch took place twelve months after the company was forced to abandon its previous attempt to float, due to deteriorating condition in the UK and German markets at the time. Co-founder and former CEO Ralph Winter remains the largest shareholder after the IPO with 66%.
Corestate now focuses on retail assets and housing - particularly micro-apartments for student housing and business apartments - in Germany (still 90% of overall volume), Austria and selectively in other European markets such as Spain. Initially it was an opportunistic investor in undervalued German residential, but now primarily co-invests with third parties and manages the jointly held assets. Its own typical shareholding in joint deals averages10%. Since its founding, the company has transacted €5.6bn in volume.
The Corestate business model has morphed over the years to now more closely resemble that of the Augsburg-based Patrizia Immobilien, which has also moved from holding and trading its own properties to jointly investing with, and acting as fund manager for, institutionals and rich private individuals, particularly from Switzerland, in selected portfolios.
On the flotation, CEO Sascha Wilhelm commented, ‘Today, Corestate took its first step onto the trading floor, reaching the next stage of development ten years after its founding. The capital increase before going public gave us the opportunity to continue to follow our growth course. Due to the stable demand for real estate investment products in general and comprehensive investment management solutions in particular, we are looking to the future with confidence."