The Austrian Takeover Commission notified Immofinanz that a review procedure is being initiated with respect to Immofinanz as the target company.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed the model of work around the world, attitudes on this matter are still visibly evolving – since the first wave of the lockdown until today the number of people working only from the office has increased by 26%. Almost half of employees go to the office every day, despite over 60% of respondents claiming that they do have comfortable working conditions at home. Employees in all surveyed countries indicated the ability to maintain a work-life balance and have direct conversations with co-workers as the biggest advantages of working in the office. These are only some of the conclusions drawn from a study conducted on behalf of Skanska office development unit in CEE.

Trei Real Estate’s development portfolio grew by 33 percent to €1.2 billion in 2020 from €900 million in 2019. The sum total breaks down into €1.0 billion in residential real estate and c. €200 million in retail real estate. The proprietary portfolio of Trei maintained its total of c. €1.2 billion and it includes 349 assets.

Logistics developer VGP is committed to further implementing comprehensive and sustainable measures along its sustainability strategy in the next years to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. To this end, the company has now set itself new targets.

Real estate investment manager Garbe Institutional Capital, headquartered in Hamburg (Germany), is expanding into Central and Eastern Europe. Managing and developing retail, office and residential real estate assets, the company will initially focus on the Polish and Czech markets. With its commitment to the CEE region, Garbe Institutional Capital provides German institutional investors with access to high-quality real estate investments in economically prospering metropolitan areas in the eastern part of the European Union. The new CEE business is based in Prague and headed by Ben Maudling as Managing Director, Head of CEE.

The Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Immofinanz have decided to launch a voluntary public takeover offer to acquire a controlling interest pursuant to Section 25a of the Austrian Takeover Act for all outstanding no-par value bearer shares of S Immo not owned by the bidder.

The past year has turned every aspect of our lives upside down, including the way we work and use office space. CEE-based flex office provider New Work has updated its annual research that confronts these issues and shows how our habits to use office as a place of work have changed over the past year. Research shows that flexible office space in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania has increased tenfold and workplace needs now are completely different than ever before, so there should be an office ready to use at every corner.

CTP has announced its intention to launch an initial offering and to apply for admission to listing and trading of its shares on Euronext Amsterdam. The logistics investor and developer aims to raise between €800 million and €1 billion.

S Immo AG's Supervisory Board has designated the successor of Ernst Vejdovszky, founding father of the company, whose board term will expire on 30 June 2021, and has newly appointed the Management Team. Dr. Bruno Ettenauer will take over as CEO from 15 March 2021 with a term of three years. DI Herwig Teufelsdorfer will be appointed as S Immo AG's CIO (Chief Investment Officer) and will take up his position on the Executive Board at the latest at the beginning of the second quarter of 2021. The contract of Friedrich Wachernig, MBA as COO (Chief Operating Officer) has been prolonged for a further three years until 30 June 2024.

The Q4 2020 results of the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor continue to point to a challenging backdrop across Europe. Both the office and retail sectors remain under significant pressure, with demand still falling sharply amid the difficult economic climate induced by the pandemic. On a brighter note, supported by structural tailwinds, the industrial sector continues to defy this downbeat overall assessment, prompting respondents to upgrade expectations for rental and capital value growth.