Mobifonds Swiss Property withdraws from Lucerne project development
The real estate fund Mobifonds Swiss Property does not want to realize the residential and commercial building Luegisland, which has been planned for years. An IPO of the fund is also not on the agenda for the time being, according to the fund management.
With the Luegisland project, a residential and commercial building with an investment volume of around CHF 62 million was to be built at Bundesplatz in Lucerne. According to earlier information, a high-rise building with 125 apartments, studios and offices, shopping facilities and gastronomy was planned. In 2016, when the plans were presented, it was said that construction would start in 2019. However, as the fund management of Mobifonds Swiss Property has now announced, the design plan is still not legally binding. In addition, the general conditions of the project have deteriorated in the recent past, "so that a realization would no longer achieve the economic efficiency required for the fund," it says in a statement.
The fund management company is therefore exercising the option to withdraw from the project development, which was granted to it at the time of the acquisition. The transaction has already been notarized and the transfer of ownership will take place at the beginning of 2023. The fund management intends to use the funds released to reduce its external debt. The fund portfolio now comprises 21 existing or projected investments with a market value of CHF 1.1 billion.
No IPO for the fund for the time being
Furthermore, the fund management informs that Mobifonds Swiss Property shall remain a non-listed fund for qualified investors. According to the growth strategy of the fund, the listing on the Swiss stock exchange should be examined when the portfolio size exceeds one billion CHF. This was the case with the last transaction. However, it has now been decided to continue to position Mobifonds Swiss Property as an off-exchange traded real estate fund, according to the fund management.
The reason it gives is that a fund now has to meet high free-float capitalization requirements - which Mobifonds Swiss Property currently does "only to a limited extent". At the same time, attractive acquisition opportunities are rare, which makes it difficult for the fund to grow quickly. However, since September 5, 2022, the fund has been SIX-deliverable and listed on the platform of Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank. This would create another trading opportunity in addition to the existing market making of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. (ah)
