Continental Europe’s biggest real estate IPO of the year has highlighted a growing appetite for German offices.
OfficeFirst, IVG’s €3.3bn (£2.8bn) German office portfolio, which announced its intention to float on 16 September, will be the second listed office specialist in Germany when it goes public, after Alstria.
The company will issue €450m in new shares for the first part of its IPO deal, followed by a further circa €350m, and the proceeds used to pay down debt.
It is talking to investors worldwide to determine the full size of the deal, which could become the biggest property flotation in Europe this year.
A recent report by Moody’s called German residential property one of the most stable European asset classes with upside potential, something that could translate to the commercial sector, OfficeFirst believes.
Chief executive Michiel Jaski said: “The markets are good for an IPO. There is a good level of interest across the world for German real estate, and this is one of the unique opportunities to get into that.
“People have benefited from the resi side in Germany, where there has been spectacular development. On the commercial side, there is one listed company. We would be the second.”
OfficeFirst’s portfolio is in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Berlin.
Following its IPO, the firm will apply for REIT status in 2017.
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