Hansteen Holdings has announced that it has completed the disposal of its German and Dutch portfolios for €1.28 billion. The sale, originally announced on 20 March 2017, is entities owned by funds advised by affiliates of The Blackstone Group L.P. and M7 Real Estate. Hansteen says that the transaction has resulted in net cash proceeds to the Group of approximately €750 million and, as previously announced, it intends to distribute, to its shareholders, a substantial portion of the net cash proceeds. Hansteen says that details will be announced as soon as reasonably practicable.
Transaction highlights
Hansteen has highlighted the following aspects of the transaction
- The portfolios were sold on a debt free basis for cash, and the value given to the German and Dutch portfolio is €1.28 billion payable upon Completion (less a deposit of €50 million which has been paid), subject to a net asset value adjustment post-Completion. Hansteen previously said that all latent capital gains tax liabilities incurred, in relation to the Transaction, would be shared on an equal basis between the Company and the Buyer.
- The price represents a premium of approximately €76 million (6 per cent.) to the Year End Valuation which itself included a valuation uplift of €34 million over the 31 December 2015 valuation.
- Hansteen says that the disposal realises the value in the portfolios at a time when not only are they at historically high levels of occupancy and rent for the period of Hansteen’s ownership but also the Euro/Sterling exchange rate is favourable.
Crystallising gains from revaluations and asset management
Commenting on the Transaction, Morgan Jones and Ian Watson, joint chief executives of Hansteen, have said that sale represented, “a compelling opportunity to crystallise both the revaluation gains from these German and Dutch assets achieved by our active asset management and the gains from foreign exchange movements. The value being realised is around 30 per cent. higher than the book value at 31 December 2015 when measured in Sterling. The sale is in line with our long-term business and portfolio strategy of buying at a low point in the cycle, with low occupancy and rents, adding value through improved asset management and subsequently realising the investment at a higher point in the cycle”.
Hansteen completes €1.28bn disposal of German and Dutch portfolios : HSTN