Starwood Capital eyes stake in Austria’s CA Immo and Immofinanz

SOF-11 Starlight 10 EUR S.à r.l., a Luxembourg-based unit of Starwood Capital, is offering CA Immo shareholders €27.50 per share, minus any dividend paid, a small premium on the company’s closing price of €26.54 a day earlier.

Just last month, Immofinanz abandoned its planned merger with CA Immo following pressure from an activist investor, saying at the time that it would subsequently consider selling its 26% stake in the firm.

‘The management board of CA Immobilien Anlagen takes note of the notification of US investor Starwood Capital and, in general, welcomes the interest demonstrated by internationally known investors in CA Immo,’ said CA Immo’s management board, in a statement. ‘Starwood Capital is a financial investor with an excellent reputation focusing on property investments.’ CA Immo declined to comment.

Starwood is also offering Immofinanz shareholders €2.10 per share, minus any dividend, Starwood has said it would like to acquire up to 5% of the group.

‘Immofinanz takes notice of the announcement of the partial takeover offers by SOF-11 Starlight 10 EUR S.à r.l.,’ the company said in a statement. ‘The management board will review this announcement and may issue a statement to the intended partial takeover offers within a short timeframe.’ A spokesperson declined to provide additional comment.

Immofinanz and CA Immo first toyed with the idea of a merger back in 2015 but talks broke down acrimoniously in the same year before being reignited in 2016. Both parties conceded at the time that the merger was fraught with obstacles and talks floundered. Initially, the merger was expected to create an entity with ‘substantial synergies’, according to Immofinanz CEO Oliver Schumy, generating annual cost savings of around €33m.

Starwood , for its part, said in a statement that it supports both companies’ management teams: ‘We believe that the substantial capital resources and experience we can contribute as a strategic shareholder of CA Immo and Immofinanz could provide significant value.’

Upon completion of both takeover offers, CA Immo and Immofinanz will remain listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, according to Starwood.