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, 2020, 588 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 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 efficient and effective management of a portfolio of more than 415,000 apartments and also provides the basis for the successful digitalization of Vonovia’s process chains. In addition, the development business is largely managed via project companies.
With our efficient organizational model, optimized processes, a clear focus on service, and, as a result, on our tenants, and a clear investment strategy focusing on climate protection, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable business while safeguarding our legitimate interests as a private-sector company.
Vonovia’s Scalable Organizational Model: Strong Regional Presence and Efficient Central Shared Services
A balanced mix of services provided by the central service center, regional caretakers working on-site and our company’s own technical and residential environment organization ensures that our tenants’ concerns can be attended to in a timely, straightforward and reliable manner. This plays a key role in ensuring that our customers feel that they have good support in their neighborhoods.
In addition to its successful long-term and modern property management, Vonovia also develops the real estate portfolio through targeted acquisitions and sales. The goals associated with new portfolio acquisitions include strengthening its overall regional presence, realizing operational and financial economies of scale and optimizing structures. In addition, Vonovia will be using new construction and development measures, densification and vertical expansion to build an increasing number of new apartments in order to meet the rising demand for living space in metropolitan areas in particular. The integration of the development organization operating under the BUWOG name has allowed Vonovia to acquire extensive product and process expertise in the field of construction and in the development of residential construction projects. This means that Vonovia has not only a management platform but also an end-to-end development platform spanning the entire value chain.
The management of the operating business is based on the company’s strategic approaches and is conducted via the four segments: Rental, Value-add, Recurring Sales and Development. Details on the management of our business can be found in the chapter on our management system.
In addition to Vonovia SE, the Vonovia Group includes a total of 587 subsidiaries, 284 of them based in Germany.