Sweden: Germany’s Vonovia buys Hembla in US$1.3B deal

German real estate company Vonovia announced on Monday, September 23, it is buying a majority stake in Swedish property company Hembla from US investor Blackstone.

According to Vonovia, the acquisition of 69.30% of Hembla’s voting rights and 61.19% of the share capital is worth approximately €1.14 billion (US$1.25 billion) in total.

“Our investment in Hembla is fully complementary to our present footprint,” Vonovia CEO Rolf Buch said. “We are long-term investors in residential housing.”

The investment in Hembla was Vonovia’s “second step” on the Swedish housing market, the company stated. In 2018, it already bought the Swedish housing company Victoria Park.

According to Vonovia, the 21,411 flats in Hembla’s portfolio would be “highly complementary” to Victoria Park’s 16,638 flats, most of which are in Malmo, Stockholm, and Gothenburg.

The closing of the current transaction is still subject to antitrust clearance by the Swedish merger control authorities. Vonovia stated it expects the process to be completed in October or November, adding that they were “obliged to launch a mandatory public offer for the remaining shares in Hembla” afterwards.

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