Corporate Structure

Vonovia SE, the parent company of the Vonovia Group, is organized in the legal form of a dualistic European company (SE). Vonovia SE is directed by a Management Board, which is responsible for conducting business and defining the Group’s strategy. Implementation occurs in close coordination with the Supervisory Board, which is regularly briefed by the Management Board regarding the development of business, strategy and potential opportunities and risks. The Supervisory Board oversees the activities of the Management Board.

Vonovia SE has its registered headquarters in Germany. Since 2017, its registered office has been in Bochum. The head office (principal place of business) is located at Universitätsstrasse 133, 44803 Bochum. As of December 31, 2018, 522 legal entities/companies formed part of the Vonovia Group. A detailed list of Vonovia SE shareholdings is appended to the Notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Vonovia SE performs the function of the management holding company for the Group. In this role, it is responsible for determining and pursuing the overall strategy and implementing the company’s goals. It also performs property management, financing, service and coordination tasks for the Group. Furthermore, it is responsible for the management, control and monitoring system as well as risk management of the Group.

In order to carry out its management functions, Vonovia SE has established a series of service companies, particularly for commercial and operational support functions, which are centralized in shared service centers. By pooling the corporate functions on a uniform management platform, Vonovia achieves harmonization, standardization and economies of scale objectives, and the other Group companies thus do not need to perform such functions themselves. This bundling is a prerequisite for the effective and efficient management of a nationwide portfolio of 358,000 apartments and also provides the basis for the successful digitization of Vonovia’s process chains.

Vonovia’s core operating rental business in Germany is currently divided into six business areas. These are, in turn, split into business units (BUs), each of which is responsible for an average of around 10,500 housing units on location as part of a decentralized structure. The caretaker, craftsmen’s and residential environment organization is also based on a regional structure.

Corporate Structure Rental

Corporate Structure Rental (Graphic)

Responsibility for the other activities that belong to the Value-add segment, i.e., product management, data and energy services, vertical expansion and modernization, is centralized. This also applies to activities relating to sales and acquisition.

The development business is also managed centrally for both Austria and Germany.

Corporate Structure Development

Corporate Structure Development (Graphic)

The management of the business is based on the company’s strategic approaches and is conducted via the four segments: Rental, Value-add, and Development. Details on the management of our business can be found in the chapter on our management system.

Recurring Sales
The Recurring Sales segment (formerly part of the “Sales” segment) includes the regular and sustainable disposals of individual condominiums from our portfolio. It does not include the sale of entire buildings or land (Non-core disposals). These properties are only sold as and when the right opportunities present themselves, meaning that the sales do not form part of our operating business within the narrower sense of the term. Therefore, these sales will be reported under “Other” in our segment reporting.