The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the planned acquisition of significant housing and property stock from Vonovia SE by two companies owned by the Land Berlin.

This includes the acquisition of all the shares in PRIMA Wohnbauten Privatisierungs-Management GmbH, Berlin, by HOWOGE Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbH, Berlin, which is owned by the Land Berlin.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “The Land Berlin already owns around 22 per cent of the approximately 1.7 million rental flats in Berlin. However, its plans to acquire around 4,500 flats from Vonovia, most of them in the Lichtenberg district, do not raise any competition concerns. The takeover will only slightly expand the land-owned company’s influence on Berlin’s housing market.” 

As at the end of 2022 the Land Berlin, via its seven land-owned property companies, already (indirectly) owned a total of approximately 375 thousand rental flats, which represents around 22 per cent of Berlin’s approximately 1.7 million rental flats. The acquisition of the PRIMA portfolio, mainly in the Lichtenberg district, only slightly increases this share to around 22.4 per cent. The merger parties’ joint market share on Berlin’s rental housing market is therefore well below the 40 per cent threshold for the presumption of single firm dominance.

The Bundeskartellamt has also cleared the acquisition, which was notified at the same time, of all the shares in Stadtentwicklungsgesellschaft Buch mbH, Berlin, by HOWOGE and Berlinovo Immobilien Gesellschaft mbH, Berlin, a company which is also owned by the Land Berlin. The target company, Buch, owns an undeveloped plot of land in Berlin-Buch covering a total area of around 40 hectares with development potential for up to 1,200 flats. Upon completion of the transaction, HOWOGE and Berlinovo will take over the target company Buch and develop it jointly under municipal ownership.