Investor VBL plans to accept takeover offer for Germany's Aareal - sources

Aareal Bank AG

13/01/2022 12:55

FRANKFURT, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The investor VBL plans to
accept a takeover bid made by U.S.-based Advent International
and Centerbridge Partners for Germany's Aareal Bank  ARLG.DE ,
two people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
    VBL, short for Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der
Laender, is a pension fund for German government workers that
holds around 6.5% of Aareal.
    VBL's plans to tender its shares is a vote of confidence in
a deal backed by management that values the real-estate lender
at 1.7 billion euros  ($1.95 billion). 
    The deal, launched in November, has however faced some
opposition by other large investors.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2SE0XN  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2TS5JF
    VBL declined to comment.
    The offer's acceptance period started on Dec. 17 and will
expire on Jan. 19. 
    As of Wednesday, the takeover offer had reached an
acceptance rate of 3.2%, far from the 70% that the buyout group
is seeking.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS8N2QS029
    

($1 = 0.8716 euros)

 (Reporting Alexander Hübner und Frank Siebelt; Writing by Tom
Sims, Editing by Kirsti Knolle)
 ((Tom.Sims@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 645;))