German indirect vehicles see 50% rise to €18.5bn - study

German indirect real estate investing vehicles saw inflows at record levels in 2015, shows a new study by Düsseldorf-based capital market research specialists Akselrod Barkow Consulting.

Indirect vehicles surveyed include listed real estate, institutional open-ended funds (OEFs), and public open-ended funds. Closed-end funds were specifically not included, say the researchers due to lack of representative data.

Net capital inflows into the indirect vehicles were €18.5bn, up by 50% on 2014, a post-crisis record, and the second best year ever for indirect capital flows, following the year 2002, which saw inflows of €17.3bn. Last year's full year inflows into the listed sector totalled €6.3bn, 37% higher than in 2014 and an equity placement record for the third year in succession.

Listed sector inflows were softer in fourth quarter, with equity placements reaching only €500m, due to a combination of challenging markets and major players “caught up in merger hustle,” as Barkow described it in the report.

Net inflows into open-ended property funds came to €3.6bn over the year, four times higher than in 2014, and with some €1bn being placed in the fourth quarter alone. Adjusting for repayments of frozen funds brings net inflows to north of €5bn. “Though reaching pre-crisis levels of up to €15bn annually can be seen as an unlikely scenario at present, public GOEPFs seem fully back on track,” said the report.

Germany's largest listed housing company Vonovia had issued a €14bn takeover bid for Berlin-based Deutsche Wohnen, after the latter announced a merger with smaller peer LEG. Both transactions failed, with Deutsche Wohnen withdrawing its offer after the hostile Vonovia bid. Vonovia failed to reach the minimum 50% acceptance in February, after it succeeded in gaining control of only 30.4% of Deutsche Wohnen shares.