Stock market withdrawal for BFW Liegenschaften?

BFW Holding offers CHF 44.25 net per class A registered share. Beat Frischknecht, founder of BFW Liegenschaften and sole owner of BFW Holding, already holds 26% of the share capital and 68.2% of the voting rights, according to company information. He wants to reach at least 90%. After that, a squeeze-out is to be initiated and subsequently the registered shares category A are to be delisted.

Offer is "fair and reasonable

A fairness opinion formed by an independent committee of the board of directors confirms that the offered price of CHF 44.25 is "fair and reasonable" from a financial point of view, BFW Liegenschaften informs.

The price is 4.9% above the adjusted net asset value (including upside potential) calculated in the fairness opinion, or 5.5% above the net asset value reported as of September 30, 2019, and 1.7% above the volume-weighted average price of the last 60 trading days prior to the announcement of the tender offer. The Independent Committee of the Board of Directors therefore recommends that shareholders accept the Offer. The offer period runs from December 16, 2019 to January 20, 2020.

No further growth planned

After the completion of the portfolio rounding BFW Liegenschaften said it was no longer pursuing a growth strategy and had no plans to substantially increase its existing portfolio in the foreseeable future. With the remaining portfolio worth around 330 million, the company also no longer has the necessary, reasonable size of a portfolio to justify a listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange as a public company.

Frischknecht, as founder and main shareholder, had therefore come to the conclusion that further development of the company as a private company would be better ensured.

Due to the conflicts of interest arising from his offer, Frischknecht, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO, will step down in all his functions from November 29, 2019 until the completion of the offer. Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Wunderlin will take over as Chairman of the Executive Board.

Nine-month interim financial statements

According to an unaudited financial report as of September 30, 2019, BFW Properties generated net rental income of 13.8 million in the first nine months of this year. Income from rentals was 10.8 million. The sale of four properties had resulted in a one-time gain of 2.7 million; income from revaluation was 1.1 million.

At Ebit level, the company achieved a profit of 12.6 million. The financial result amounted to -7.7 million. Profit including revaluation gains amounted to 4.3 million in the first nine months of 2019. (ah)