Vivion has established a strong portfolio of hospitality and office assets in top-tier metropolitan areas across two of Europe’s largest economies
Vivion’s portfolio delivers consistent cash flows with structural inflation protection, leaving it
well-positioned to continue capitalizing on investment opportunities
Vivion ended the first half of 2022 with €722m of balance sheet cash and €3.1b of unencumbered assets;
€84.3m remains on the Company’s authorized bond buyback
Vivion presentation shows short-seller report is fundamentally flawed: since inception, net cash injection by shareholders into the Company has served to bolster bondholders’ equity cushion
Vivion Investments S.à.r.l (“Vivion” or the “Company”), a leading European real estate platform focused on delivering sustainable returns for investors from a high-quality portfolio across Germany and the UK, today released a statement and detailed presentation rebutting an inaccurate report issued by a short-seller on December 14, 2022.
Vivion’s presentation can be found on the Company’s homepage, and its statement is below. Vivion encourages all stakeholders to review its materials so that they have a factually accurate and clearly informed understanding of the Company.
Sascha Hettrich, Chief Executive Officer of Vivion, said, “Over the last four years, Vivion has built a strong portfolio of hospitality and office assets in top-tier metropolitan areas across two of Europe’s largest economies. We deliver consistent cash flows with structural inflation protection and have generated nearly €593 million of EBITDA since inception, further bolstering bondholders’ significant equity cushion.”
Mr. Hettrich continued: “While Vivion appreciates the feedback of its stakeholders, upon further thorough review of the short-seller’s report, Vivion is today issuing a presentation that illustrates that the report is fundamentally flawed – containing a number of substantial factual inaccuracies and provably incorrect statements. The short-seller’s report demonstrates a cursory and incomplete understanding of the Company, its portfolio, and its business operations. We were disappointed that the short-seller did not engage directly with Vivion prior to the publication of its report. Had such constructive action been taken, we would have prioritized engagement with the short-seller to ensure it had the facts about our business.”
The facts about Vivion’s business – which are further detailed and supported by comprehensive analysis in its presentation – include:
Vivion’s History
- Vivion was founded in October 2018 by the contribution of 53 real estate assets. Vivion’s Founding Shareholders contributed 20 UK hotels at cost and 33 German commercial real estate assets at fair value (as determined by third-party appraisal) to form Vivion. In exchange for these contributions, the Founding Shareholders received shareholder loans – equity-like instruments commonly employed by European companies – and common shares (further detailed on page 8 of the presentation).
- Real estate asset contributions and cash ensured Vivion was well-capitalized at launch (€767m of equity injected in 2018). Vivion’s Founding Shareholders’ real estate equity contributions totaled €635m at Vivion’s inception. The Founding Shareholders subsequently contributed additional cash of €132m in Q4 2018 to fund acquisitions (further detailed on pages 7 and 11).
- Vivion’s shareholders have injected capital into the Company since formation. Following the Company’s establishment, Vivion’s shareholders have strengthened bondholders’ equity cushion via net cash injections of €21m into the Company since January 1, 2019 (gross cash injections of €360m offset by repayments of shareholder loans of €339m, further detailed on page 12). In addition, Vivion has generated Funds From Operation (FFO) of €227m since January 2020.
Portfolio Value
- Valuation for Vivion’s German and UK portfolios is conducted annually (at a minimum) by third-party valuation firms, as was detailed in the Company’s Offering Memorandum.
- Vivion reaffirms that – as disclosed – occupancy in its German portfolio is 90%. This figure is calculated in accordance with market standard and the Company’s disclosed methodology, and is reflective of the underlying strength of Vivion’s business (further detailed on page 14).
- Performance within Vivion’s UK portfolio is strong. Vivion’s triple-net, inflation-protected UK hotel portfolio is performing well; rent collections from 2020 through 2022 were 90%.
Transaction and Tenant Disclosures
- Rent24 is NOT a related party. While Vivion’s Founding Shareholders were once investors in Rent24, the Shareholders sold their stake on September 1, 2017. Today, Rent24 represents less than 2.5% of Vivion’s total portfolio rent (further detailed on page 20).
- Völklinger Straße 4 acquisition was NOT a related-party transaction. The asset was acquired in July 2018 from a third party in an arm’s length transaction brokered by BNP Paribas (further detailed on page 21).
- Kudamm acquisition was acquired from a third party for ~€540m in June 2019 by a Vivion-affiliate company to secure an acquisition. The asset was subsequently transferred at cost into Vivion in December 2019 following satisfaction of Vivion-specific governance requirements. The asset was sold to a third party in June 2021 (further detailed on page 22).
Vivion encourages any stakeholders with further questions to reach out to the Company directly.
Contact:
For Media:
Headland
Susanna Voyle: +44 (0)7980 894 557
Matt Denham: +44 (0)7551 825 496
E: Vivion@headlandconsultancy.com
For Investors:
Vivion Investments S.à r.l.
Daan Bras – Investor relations
T +31 65 20 90 026
E IR@vivion.eu
155, rue Cents, L-1319 Luxembourg
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg