Heimstaden Bostad AB is targeting a cash injection of at least EUR 580 million by selling a chunk of its Dutch portfolio as it races to avert a credit rating downgrade, Bloomberg claimed yesterday.

The Nordic residential company now plans to sell about 20 percent of that holding, or about 2,500 homes, over the next two years, according to Michiel Vrijman, who runs Heimstaden Bostad's Dutch operations.

According to Bloomberg, Heimstaden Bostad expects to be able to sell the prices at an average premium of more than 20 percent over book value, "which will optimize capital allocation in the current macroeconomic environment," states Michiel Vrijman in an email to Bloomberg.

Heimstaden Bostad has previously told Bloomberg that it plans to sell around 25,000 homes in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Finland over the next eight years.The residential property rental company, one of the largest in Europe, owns about 13,500 homes in the Netherlands at a total book value of 28.71 billion kronor ($2.6 billion). The firm now plans to sell about 20% of this holding, or about 2,500 units, on an individual basis over the next two years, according to Michiel Vrijman, who runs the Dutch operations.