Muddy Waters shorts CPI Property Group bonds (updated)

Cpi Property SA

21/11/2023 08:54

(Recasts with stock and bond prices, adds context from
paragraph four)
    By Nell Mackenzie and Akanksha Khushi
       LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - 
    The shares and bonds of CPI Group  O5G.DE  fell sharply on
Tuesday after short-selling hedge fund Muddy Waters said it had
bet against the credit of the Luxembourg-based commercial
landlord.
    In a report, the fund said CPI PG's controlling shareholder,
Czech billionaire Radovan Vitek, had misstated the value of the
company. The report also said some income had been booked
against real estate properties that were in fact empty plots of
land.
        The company did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. 
  
        CPI Group's Frankfurt-listed shares were last down 2.8%
on the day, while the price of its 2027 medium-term note fell
3.5 cents on the day to 70.259, according to data from Tradeweb
 XS2069407786=TE .  
  
    Muddy Waters did not specify against which bond it had taken
a short position and the company has several outstanding notes
listed.. 
    CPI PG owns properties in Germany, the Czech Republic,
Poland and elsewhere in Central Eastern Europe.
    The report details four transactions totaling about 441
million euros ($481.00 million) in which the report says the
cash and real estate accounts "could be misstated."
    The four transactions focus on properties and companies
changed hands among different owners through holding companies. 
($1 = 0.9168 euros)

 (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
 ((Nell.Mackenzie@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/nellmooney;))