Company Announcements

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS

S&P DOWNGRADES AROUNDTOWN’S CREDIT RATING TO BBB STABLE FROM BBB+ NEGATIVE

29 April 2025.

Aroundtown (‘the Company’ or ‘AT’) announces the decision by Standard and Poor’s (“S&P”) to downgrade Aroundtown’s credit rating (the “Rating”) by one notch to BBB with a stable outlook. Due to recent market volatility and a weakening German economy, S&P believes this will slow AT’s disposal activity in 2025 which will slow AT`s deleveraging progress. S&P acknowledges AT’s deleveraging actions improved the debt to cap ratio from 55.5% in March 2024 to 52.1% as of Dec 2024. However, in AT’s opinion, the negative market sentiment put pressure to take a rating action rather than giving the Company additional time to complete its disposal plans. The rating revision comes after the Company maintained its rating throughout the pandemic, heightened interest rates environment and geopolitical uncertainties, and follows a period of nearly two years where S&P changed the outlook on the Company’s rating to negative. As a result, the credit rating of the Company’s bonds also decreases by one notch to BBB and its perpetual notes to BB+.

AT acknowledges the decision by S&P, but notes the significant progress made in strengthening the Company’s financial position and improving its credit metrics. Over the last years Aroundtown has executed a wide range of credit enhancing measures including disposals, dividend suspension, perpetual note exchanges and liability management exercises, which have allowed AT to mitigate much of the negative impacts of the macro-economic environment on the Company. However, recent geopolitical and macro-economic events resulted in delays in the execution of AT’s accretive disposal activity. The rating change resulted from S&P’s changed assessment of AT’s financial profile by one category while the Company`s business profile remained strong. AT believes that once market environment and German economy will improve, the Company will have more tools to restore its financial profile accretively.

Going forward, the Company expects that its highly diversified portfolio with high embedded upside potential will continue to drive operational growth, offsetting potential headwinds. Furthermore, Aroundtown remains committed to its conservative financial profile (42% LTV as of year-end 2024) and will continue to execute transactions which will be accretive to all stakeholders and will continue to maintain significant headroom to all its financial bond covenants. The Company expects that these measures, as well as continued operational growth, will continue to support its credit metrics under S&P’s methodology.

About the Company

Aroundtown SA (symbol: AT1), trading on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is the largest listed German commercial real estate company. Aroundtown invests in income generating quality properties with value-add potential in central locations in top tier European cities primarily in Germany, the Netherlands, and London.

Aroundtown SA (ISIN: LU1673108939) is a public limited liability company (société anonyme) established under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register (Registre de Commerce et des Sociétés, Luxembourg) under number B217868, having its registered office at 37, Boulevard Joseph II, L-1840 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Contact

Timothy Wright
T: +352 288 313
E: info@aroundtown.de
www.aroundtown.de

 

DISCLAIMER

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES.

THE SECURITIES MENTIONED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE SECURITIES ACT), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED AT AND IS ONLY BEING DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO (I) PERSONS WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE ORDER), (II) HIGH NET WORTH ENTITIES, AND OTHER PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49 OF THE ORDER, AND (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS RELEVANT PERSONS). THIS COMMUNICATION MUST NOT BE READ, ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS.

IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (EEA) AND THE UNITED KINGDOM, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OFFER IF MADE SUBSEQUENTLY IS DIRECTED ONLY AT PERSONS WHO ARE “QUALIFIED INVESTORS” WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION (EU) 2017/1129, AS AMENDED (THE PROSPECTUS REGULATION) (QUALIFIED INVESTORS). ANY PERSON IN THE EEA OR THE UNITED KINGDOM WHO ACQUIRES THE SECURITIES IN ANY OFFER (AN INVESTOR) OR TO WHOM ANY OFFER OF THE SECURITIES IS MADE WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT IT IS A QUALIFIED INVESTOR. ANY INVESTOR WILL ALSO BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT ANY SECURITIES ACQUIRED BY IT IN THE OFFER HAVE NOT BEEN ACQUIRED ON BEHALF OF PERSONS IN THE EEA OR THE UNITED KINGDOM OTHER THAN QUALIFIED INVESTORS, NOR HAVE THE SECURITIES BEEN ACQUIRED WITH A VIEW TO THEIR OFFER OR RESALE IN THE EEA OR THE UNITED KINGDOM TO PERSONS WHERE THIS WOULD RESULT IN A REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLICATION BY AROUNDTOWN OR ANY OF THE MANAGERS OF A PROSPECTUS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 3 OF THE PROSPECTUS REGULATION.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY CONTAIN PROJECTIONS OR ESTIMATES RELATING TO PLANS AND OBJECTIVES RELATING TO OUR FUTURE OPERATIONS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, FUTURE FINANCIAL RESULTS, OR ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING OR RELATING TO ANY SUCH STATEMENTS, EACH OF WHICH CONSTITUTES A FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT SUBJECT TO RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, MANY OF WHICH ARE BEYOND THE CONTROL OF AROUNDTOWN SA. ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY, DEPENDING ON A NUMBER OF FACTORS.