IMMOFINANZ Group sells residential projects in the USA and withdraws from this market

IMMOFINANZ Group has sold three residential projects in Houston, Texas, to Sueba, a local developer, and largely completed its exit from the US market. The sale price for this package (IMMOFINANZ held 90% of each project) totalled nearly USD 60 million (approx. EUR 47.3 million) and exceeds the book value of the properties. The closing has already taken place.

“Although the US business has shown sound development in spite of the economic crisis, the time is right to withdraw from this secondary market. We also plan to sell the remaining residential property project in the near future and profitably end our overseas commitment – just as we did in Switzerland“, explained Eduard Zehetner, CEO of IMMOFINANZ Group, on the Group’s focus on its core markets.

The sold properties in Houston represent apartment complexes in the north and west of the city with almost 1,000 units in total. The sale process for the remaining San Antigua project with 277 apartments is currently underway and the closing is expected to take place towards the end of the current financial year.

The sale of three logistics properties in Switzerland (two in Bülach and one in Derendingen) and the US apartments reduced the share of non-core countries in IMMOFINANZ Group’s portfolio by nearly one-half from 6.6% at the end of April 2014 to 3.7%.

IMMOFINANZ Group’s business model calls for property sales averaging EUR 500 million to 600 million each year. The original plan to sell EUR 2.5 billion of real estate within five years was exceeded after only four years, with the transactions resulting in a double-digit margin over the book value.