Financier Guy Hands’ Terra Firma and Citigroup Property Investors on Tuesday pulled off Europe’s largest residential deal when they agreed to pay €7bn for Viterra, the private housing arm of power giant Eon.
They offered over €1bn more than rival bidders Fortress and Goldman Sach’s Whitehall Fund for the private company, which has a portfolio of about 150,000 flats.
David Pascall, head of Terra Firma in Germany, said: “We did a detailed due diligence on the portfolio and we paid a fair price. Terra Firma and CPI are experienced long-term investors and we see great potential for growth for the new group in the coming years.”
CPI acquired 17.5% of TF’s subsidiary Deutsche Annington’s equity for about €300m. Citigroup and Barclays Capital are jointly leading the debt financing of the transaction.
Morgan Stanley advised Eon; Citigroup and Rothschild advised Deutsche Annington.
