DGAP-News: HOWOGE Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
/ Key word(s): Issue of Debt/Financing
Press release NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN HOWOGE issued corporate bonds of €1.7 billion at attractive terms with an average interest rate of 0.647% p.a. Berlin, 26 October 2021. HOWOGE Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbH success- With the transaction being more than 5 times oversubscribed, it has not only attracted German investors' interest but has also generated demand throughout Europe, thus underlining the attractiveness and quality of HOWOGE's real estate portfolio. This was also confirmed in advance by the two rating agencies S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings who awarded strong Investment Grade ratings of A and AA- respectively. The proceeds of the transaction will mainly be used to finance the purchase of approx. 8,300 flats from the Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen portfolios. "The successful inaugural issuance establishes HOWOGE's access to the capital market. This can now be utilised optimally to implement HOWOGE's clear growth strategy and, in particular, to sustainably support social housing construction in Berlin", said HOWOGE's CFO Thomas Felgenhauer. "Furthermore, the issuance allows HOWOGE to significantly reduce its current refinancing costs and to keep the rents stable", Felgenhauer continued. The bonds were issued under the recently established €4 billion Debt Issuance Program, which provides HOWOGE with additional financing flexibility and enables stable and long-term debt financing on the capital market in addition to mortgage financing. Settlement of the new bonds is planned for the 1st November. The bonds will be listed on the Regulated Market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The transaction was coordinated by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners and Société Générale and UniCredit as additional Joint Bookrunners. About HOWOGE This communication is an advertisement for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 and underlying legislation. It is not a prospectus. The base prospectus is available, and the Final Terms of the bonds when published will be available, on the website of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange at https://www.bourse.lu/issuer/HowogeWo/105369. Additional Information In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") and (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2) of the Order and (iii) persons to whom it would otherwise be lawful to distribute it (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The bonds are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such bonds will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. None of the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to HOWOGE or any of their subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. The Joint Bookrunners are acting exclusively for HOWOGE and no one else in connection with the transaction. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the transaction and will not be responsible to anyone other than HOWOGE for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the transaction, the contents of this announcement or any arrangement or other matter referred to herein. In connection with the issue of the bonds, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own accounts, may subscribe for or purchase the securities of HOWOGE and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell or otherwise deal for their own accounts in such securities and other securities of HOWOGE or related investments in connection with this securities offering or otherwise. The Joint Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so. MIFID II PRODUCT GOVERNANCE / PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS AND ECPS ONLY TARGET MARKET - Solely for the purposes of each manufacturer's product approval process, the target market assessment in respect of the bonds has led to the conclusion that: (i) the target market for the bonds is eligible counterparties and professional clients only, each as defined in Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); and (ii) all channels for distribution of the bonds to eligible counterparties and professional clients are appropriate. Any person subsequently offering, selling or recommending the bonds (a "distributor") should take into consideration the manufacturers' target market assessment; however, a distributor subject to MiFID II is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the bonds (by either adopting or refining the manufacturers' target market assessment) and determining appropriate distribution channels. UK MIFIR PRODUCT GOVERNANCE / PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS AND ECPS ONLY TARGET MARKET - Solely for the purposes of the manufacturer's product approval process, the target market assessment in respect of the bonds has led to the conclusion that: (i) the target market for the bonds is only eligible counterparties, as defined in the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook ("COBS"), and professional clients, as defined in Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MiFIR"); and (ii) all channels for distribution of the bonds to eligible counterparties and professional clients are appropriate. Any person subsequently offering, selling or recommending the bonds (a "distributor") should take into consideration the manufacturer's target market assessment; however, a distributor subject to the FCA Handbook Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (the "UK MiFIR Product Governance Rules") is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the bonds (by either adopting or refining the manufacturer's target market assessment) and determining appropriate distribution channels. PROHIBITION OF SALES TO EEA RETAIL INVESTORS - The bonds are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area ("EEA"). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2016/97/EU (as amended the "Insurance Distribution Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended or superseded, the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the bonds or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the bonds or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation. PROHIBITION OF SALES TO UK RETAIL INVESTORS - The bonds are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom ("UK"). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("EUWA"); (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the FSMA and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the "UK PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the bonds or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the UK has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the bonds or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the UK may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation.
26.10.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |
Language: | English |
Company: | HOWOGE Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung |
Stefan-Heym-Platz 1 | |
10367 Berlin | |
Germany | |
Phone: | +49 (0)30 54640 |
E-mail: | info@howoge.de |
Internet: | www.howoge.de |
Listed: | Foreign Exchange(s) Luxembourg Stock Exchange |
EQS News ID: | 1243712 |
End of News | DGAP News Service |