The real estate developer Altarea announced Wednesday that it was renouncing to acquire under the agreed conditions the Primonial group, specializing in savings and the management of real estate assets, whose CEO said his amazement.
As part of the review of the legal documentation, certain elements of which were not communicated until February 25, Altarea noted that the conditions agreed for the acquisition of the Primonial Group at the beginning of March were not fulfilled due to the non-compliance – both in terms of content, form and deadlines – of the stipulations of the acquisition protocol signed in July 2021, says the promoter in a press release.
Altarea deplores this situation, which does not allow the acquisition to be completed in accordance with the acquisition protocol and with a sufficient level of legal certainty, and will do its utmost to assert its rights and protect its interests and those of its shareholders, adds the group.
This protocol was to allow Altarea to acquire, in the first quarter of 2022, 60% of the Primonial group, valued at 1.9 billion euros, then the rest of the capital in the first quarter of 2024.
Altarea carried out a capital increase of 350 million euros in November to finance the operation.
The target scope included Primonial’s real estate asset management activities, with 30 billion euros in assets under management, and those of distribution with 12 billion euros in assets under management, as well as a minority stake of 15% in the management company La Financire de l’chiquier, a subsidiary of Primonial.
Contact by AFP, Altarea did not specify whether his renunciation was final.
Primonial’s CEO, Stephane Vidal, told AFP he was amazed at Altarea’s unilateral decision.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an operation of this magnitude, with such a long preparation time, stop two days from closing unilaterally, he stressed.
It is a unilateral decision by Altarea, which claims delays in the transmission of documents… This is not a reason to cancel a deal of two billion euros, he protested.