The minimum acceptance threshold of 60 percent had not been reached, its special purpose vehicle Atlantic BidCo announced on Friday evening after the stock exchange closed in Frankfurt. The offer has therefore expired and will be reversed. In after-hours trading via Tradegate on Friday, Aareal Bank shares temporarily fell 8.10 percent to EUR 26.65.
The CEO of Aareal Bank, Jochen Klösges, regretted the failed deal. “We supported the offer because, from a strategic perspective, it was in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders,” he said, according to the statement. But now the bank wants to drive its own growth. The Management Board and Supervisory Board had previously recommended their shareholders to accept the bid.
Under pressure from investors, Advent and Centerbridge had previously increased their offer for Aareal Bank from EUR 29 to EUR 31 per share. In addition, in mid-January they lowered the minimum acceptance threshold for their offer from 70 to 60 percent of the shares. By January 19, they had only been offered a good 19 percent of the Aareal shares at a price of EUR 29 each.
In the event of a successful takeover, Advent and Centerbridge wanted to invest heavily in Aareal Bank and its IT subsidiary Aareon and also expand the lending business. In addition, all profits should remain in the group and no longer be distributed to the shareholders.
The company, which is listed in the SDAX small-cap index, now intends to concentrate on its medium-term strategy again. This stipulates that the portfolio volume is to be increased by one billion euros annually over the next three years. By 2024, 33 billion euros should come together. “In the current environment, we have a good chance of taking very profitable new business on the books,” said CFO Marc Hess according to the announcement. In the past financial year, the management had already achieved its goal of a portfolio volume of EUR 30 billion a year earlier than expected.
Meanwhile, other plans are planned for the IT subsidiary Aareon. In the future, the board of directors wants to spend more money on takeovers and investments in order to push the previous successful activities in this area, it said.
In 2023, Aareal Bank aims to achieve consolidated operating profit of around EUR 300 million. Already in the current financial year, the value should grow to the pre-crisis level. In 2019, the operating result totaled 248 million euros.
The shareholders should now receive a dividend again after the failed deal. A second dividend tranche of EUR 1.10 per share is to be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Aareal Bank intends to present further details on the growth plans on February 24 when the business figures for 2021 are presented.
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