Münchener Hyp swallows up Warburg Hypothekenbank

Hamburg private bank M.M. Warburg has sold its mortgage financing arm Warburg Hypothekenbank to Münchener Hypothekenbank (Münchener Hyp). Warburg held a 60% stake in the subsidiary, while the second shareholder with a 40% stake, the Luneburg-based Landeskrankenhilfe, has also sold its stake, giving Münchner Hyp 100% ownership of the real estate lender.

Warburg Hypothekenbank, also headquartered in Hamburg, focuses on commercial real estate financing, with an emphasis on residential, office and retail properties in German metropolitan regions. As of 30th June 2022, the bank employed 30 people and had total assets of about €1.8 billion.

According to Stephan Schrameier, chairman of Warburg Hypothekenbank and board member of M.M. Warburg & Co, "The sale is an important step in our focusing on our core business areas of private banking, corporate & investment banking and asset management. We are thus creating scope for better use of equity in these strategically important areas. We will continue to accompany real estate project financing with the expansion of debt funds for institutional investors."

Münchener Hyp's board chairman Louis Hagen said: "With the takeover, we are acquiring a low-risk loan portfolio that fits very well with our bank."

The bank has been up for sale for some time. M.M. Warburg co-owners Christian Olearius and Max Warburg were caught up in the German cum-ex scandal and had to pay back taxes for the years 2007 to 2011, resulting in the disposal of other bank assets, including the recent sale of Degussa Bank to Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) for €220m.