Austria: Schoenherr advises Starwood Capital on the acquisition of a core shareholding of 26% in CA Immo

Under the acquisition agreement approved by the supervisory board of Immofinanz, SOF-11 Starlight 10 EUR S.à r.l., Luxembourg (an affiliate of the Starwood Capital Group, USA), will acquire 25,690,163 bearer shares, and four registered shares corresponding to approximately 26% in CA Immo for a total price of EUR 757.9 million. The registered shares carry delegation rights to the supervisory board of CA Immo.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other approvals associated with a transaction of this nature, is expected to close in Q3 2018.

The acquisition was preceded by two limited public offers by Starwood launched in Q1 2018, and relating to up to 26% in CA Immo, and up to 5% in Immofinanz. Each of the independent offers resulted in a limited take-up.  Schoenherr advised Starwood Capital on the Q1 2018 limited public offers for CA Immo and Immofinanz, and on the subsequent 2 July 2018 agreement to acquire the core shareholding of 26% and 4 registered shares in CA Immo from Immofinanz.

CA Immo is a real estate group headquartered in Vienna with branch offices in seven countries of Central Europe. Its core business involves leasing managing and developing high-quality office buildings. CA Immo controls property assets of around EUR 4 billion in Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe.

Starwood Capital Group is a private alternative investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure, and oil and gas. The firm and its affiliates maintain 11 offices in five countries around the world, and currently have more than 3,800 employees. Starwood Capital Group has raised nearly USD 45 billion in equity capital since its inception in 1991, and currently manages USD 56 billion in assets. 

The Schoenherr team, which advised Starwood Capital on all legal aspects of the transactions was led by Christian Herbst (partner, corporate/m&a) who was supported by Sascha Schulz (counsel, corporate/m&a) and Maximilian Lang (counsel, corporate/m&a) and Volker Weiss (partner, eu & competition).

Immofinanz was advised by bpv Hügel, Attorneys at Law.