Hembla AB is a property company that focuses on owning and developing rental residential properties in Greater Stockholm. It has a portfolio of 21,411 apartments and over 5,000 additional apartments in its development pipeline. Hembla AB has over 7,000 shareholders and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

The sale price of SEK 215 per share represents a premium of 11.5% compared to the closing price for Hembla AB class B shares on Nasdaq Stockholm on 20 September 2019 and a premium of 15.6% compared to the volume-weighted average share price on Nasdaq Stockholm in the last three months.

Completion is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2019.

James Seppala, Head of Real Estate Europe, Blackstone and Chairman of Hembla AB, says:

“We invested in Hembla in 2016, and are honoured to have been able to contribute, alongside Hembla’s  independent board members, other shareholders and its excellent management team, to the company’s significant development and growth. Hembla’s unwavering focus on its tenants, and on reinvesting 100% of its income back into its properties, is what has made the business so successful, and we are thrilled that the company will continue to thrive under Vonovia’s stewardship. Sweden remains a core region of focus for us and we look forward to continuing to invest meaningful capital here going forward.”

This is Vonovia’s second step into the Swedish market following the acquisition of Victoria Park in 2018. Vonovia will be obliged to launch a mandatory public offer to all other shareholders of Hembla in accordance with the Swedish takeover rules within a period of four weeks from clearance of the transaction by the merger control authorities. Hembla’s 21,411 flats are primarily based in Stockholm and are highly complementary to Victoria Park’s 16,638 flats that are mainly based in the areas of Malmö, Stockholm, and Gothenburg.

Vonovia’s CEO Rolf Buch says:

“We are long-term investors in residential housing and offer attractive and high-quality living. Since we acquired Victoria Park last year, we have found that our strategy to deliver high quality living standards to our tenants has the full support of our Swedish colleagues. Our investment in Hembla is fully complementary to our present footprint. We have a track record of creating benefits for tenants and shareholders alike, and we achieve this through our long-term expertise, our comprehensive services, better procurement and better funding. With this sustainable and very long-term course, we are living up to our social responsibility.”