DGAP-News: Aareal Bank AG / Key word(s): Acquisition
Aareal Bank AG: Aareal Bank Group acquires commercial property finance
provider Corealcredit Bank AG (news with additional features)

22.12.2013 / 13:17

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Aareal Bank Group acquires commercial property finance provider 
Corealcredit Bank AG

  - Aareal Bank Group further expands its market position in commercial
    property financing through acquiring Corealcredit Bank AG, a specialist
    successfully focusing on its core business

  - Preliminary purchase price amounts to EUR342 million

  - Exploiting attractive, value-creating opportunity - Positive effect on
    earnings per share

  - Plans for resuming active dividend policy remain unchanged

Wiesbaden, 22 December 2013 - Aareal Bank Group acquires all of the shares
of Corealcredit Bank AG, specialising in commercial property financing in
Germany. A corresponding sale and purchase agreement was concluded today
with the previous owner, a company of US financial investor Lone Star. The
purchase price amounts to EUR342 million, subject to contractually agreed
adjustments until the closing date. According to current planning, the
transaction - which is subject to the approval of the respective
authorities - shall be completed during the first half of next year.

Corealcredit Bank has belonged to Lone Star since the end of 2005 under
whose guidance the property bank undertook a successful realignment,
focusing on the commercial property financing core business in Germany and
managing to return to profit in 2007. With total assets of EUR7.6 billion
(as at 30 June 2013), the bank's commercial property financing volume
amounts to EUR3.6 billion. Within the framework of an extensive due
diligence, Corealcredit Bank's' legal, tax and credit risks have been
valued in a conservative manner and are comprehensively ring-fenced.

'By acquiring the newly realigned Corealcredit Bank, we are exploiting an
attractive opportunity for inorganic growth at a favourable time',
explained CEO Dr Wolf Schumacher. 'With this step, we are further expanding
our position as one of the leading providers of commercial property
financing, and at the same time making an active contribution to
sustainably safeguarding the stability of an economically important segment
of the German banking sector', Schumacher said.

Value-increasing transaction

According to the agreement entered into today, Aareal Bank acquires
Corealcredit at a price reflecting a discount compared to the book value of
its assets and liabilities. The acquisition will be financed entirely from
own resources. Aareal Bank will continue to fully comply with the tightened
capital requirements under Basel III even after the transaction has been
completed. The transaction will be earnings-per-share-accretive from the
first year onwards. This will also be the case in the subsequent years: In
the first three years, there will be a positive cumulative effect on
earnings per share of more than three Euro. The medium-term target RoE of
approximately 12 per cent before tax will remain unchanged.

'Due to the positive effects on earnings per share, the transaction will
create value for our shareholders right from the outset. In addition, we
will maintain the planned resumption of an active dividend policy starting
in 2014 for the 2013 financial year', Hermann J. Merkens, CFO of Aareal
Bank AG explained.

Under the umbrella of the Aareal Bank Group, Corealcredit Bank AG is
intended to be a legally independent subsidiary after the closing, with its
refinancing remaining secured within the Group. In view of the size and
focus of Corealcredit Bank, the organisational complexity of the business
combination with Aareal Bank Group can be mastered.

Aareal Bank

Aareal Bank AG, whose shares are traded in Deutsche Börse's MDAX segment
and which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, is a leading
international property specialist. The Bank concentrates its business
activities on the Structured Property Financing and the Consulting/Services
segments. The Structured Property Financing segment encompasses all of
Aareal Bank's property financing and funding activities. In this segment,
the bank facilitates property investment projects for its domestic and
international clients, within the framework of a three-continent strategy
covering Europe, North America and Asia. In the Consulting/Services
segment, Aareal Bank offers the institutional housing industry services and
products for managing residential property portfolios and processing
payment flows.




Contact:
Aareal Bank AG
Corporate Communications

Sven Korndörffer
Tel.: +49 611 348 2306
sven.korndoerffer@aareal-bank.com

Christian Feldbrügge
Tel.: +49 611 348 2280
christian.feldbruegge@aareal-bank.com

Heinrich Frömsdorf
Tel.: +49 611 348 2061
heinrich.froemsdorf@aareal-bank.com

------------------------------------

Aareal Bank AG, 
Registered Office: Wiesbaden 
Commercial Register: Amtsgericht Wiesbaden HRB 13184 
Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Marija G. Korsch
Management Board: Dr. Wolf Schumacher (Chairman), 
Dagmar Knopek, Hermann J. Merkens,
Thomas Ortmanns


End of Corporate News

+++++
Additional features:

Document: http://n.equitystory.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=KBKCAMGOHU
Document title: Press Release Aareal Bank

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22.12.2013 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
company of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Language:    English                                               
Company:     Aareal Bank AG                                        
             Paulinenstr.15                                        
             65189 Wiesbaden                                       
             Germany                                               
Phone:       +49 (0)611 348 - 0                                    
Fax:         +49 (0)611 348 - 2332                                 
E-mail:      aareal@aareal-bank.com                                
Internet:    www.aareal-bank.com                                   
ISIN:        DE0005408116                                          
WKN:         540811                                                
Indices:     MDAX                                                  
Listed:      Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);      
             Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München,  
             Stuttgart; Stockholm                                  
 
 
End of News    DGAP News-Service  
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