Acquisition Strategy

Vonovia has been growing in recent years thanks to a large number of acquisitions. The current takeover of Hembla AB now means that we are also the biggest landlord in Sweden. Our scalable operational management system allows us to achieve harmonization and generate economies of scale from the full and swift integration of newly acquired companies and portfolios. The management platform that has been tried and tested in Germany was applied to Austria as part of the BUWOG integration process, meaning that Germany and Austria now use the same processes – whenever feasible and sensible – as part of a joint IT environment.

Making the most of this competitive advantage and using the expertise that has been built up within our organization over time, we are constantly analyzing portfolios that could constitute potential takeover targets. In accordance with our portfolio management strategy and the Value-add strategy, we do not consider acquisitions to be the only way in which to achieve growth, but rather see them as key additional strategic levers that help to strengthen the impact of our core strategies.

We pursue our acquisitions as and when opportunities present themselves. Acquisitions have to be expected to increase value before they are conducted. Such increases in value are generally assessed in terms of strategic suitability, increases in EBITDA Rental yield per share and a neutral impact on the NAV per share; these are funded by 50% equity and 50% debt. Furthermore, an acquisition must not pose any risk to the company’s stable BBB+ long-term corporate credit rating. EPRA is currently revising its best practice recommendations and the EPRA NAV and, as a result, the NAV/share referred to above are likely to be replaced with a similar metric.

Despite the shorter supply of attractive portfolios, Vonovia remains committed to the implementation of its acquisition strategy, as there are still opportunities for successful takeovers and integration measures available.