Hopeless ?: Vonovia sees no chance for Deutsche Wohnen takeover – Vonovia share wins, Deutsche Wohnen easier | message

—“The board currently sees no opportunity for such a transaction in the circumstances,” said a person familiar with the considerations from the panel’s environment on Friday told Reuters. Above all, the Berlin “rental cover”, which has been valid for the capital since the beginning of the year, is a deterrent to the Bochum group. Vonovia herself did not want to comment on Friday. A “Bloomberg” report that Vonovia was considering making a second attempt to buy Deutsche Wohnen had driven the Berlin company’s stock up.

Vonovia had not denied the rumors on Thursday in principle, but placed a possible takeover on the condition that politics would play along. But CEO Rolf Buch and his colleagues have great doubts about this. Therefore, there have been no discussions with the Berlin Senate or other local politicians. The left, in particular, had pushed into the red-red-green city government on the rental cover, which makes investment in the apartments unattractive. There were also calls for one nationalization from housing companies.

Analysts are also skeptical whether Vonovia would present a new offer for Deutsche Wohnen after four years, which is now worth 13 billion euros on the stock exchange. In 2016, Buch failed due to resistance from his colleague Michael Zahn and the number two shareholders on the German housing market. The risk that the rental cover would persist despite constitutional concerns or be replaced by other measures is a significant risk that Vonovia is currently not expected to take, Citi analysts said. ABN Amro argues that it would be even more difficult for a merged, € 37 billion apartment giant to objectify the political debate.

While Vonovia shares in the top positions in the DAX ultimately rose by 2.15 percent to EUR 44.61, Deutsche Wohnen declined by 1.35 percent to EUR 36.47.

Munich (Reuters)