BERLIN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- German housing giant Vonovia secured a majority holding in its competitor Deutsche Wohnen after the end of the first acceptance period, the company said on Thursday.
Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) approved the takeover bid of 19 billion euros (21.9 billion U.S. dollars) in August as Vonovia raised its final offer to a fixed price of 53 euros per share.
Vonovia now holds 60.3 percent of shares and could further raise its stakes as "Deutsche Wohnen shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer have the opportunity to tender their shares" during the additional acceptance period which lasts until Oct. 21.
After Vonovia failed to secure a majority stake (at least 50 percent) in two previous attempts in recent years, the takeover of the Bochum-based Deutsche Wohnen was successfully completed on the third attempt.
The takeover has elicited criticism from several investors, such as the London-based Davidson Kempner hedge fund, which filed an injunction against it at the district court of Berlin in September but withdrew it earlier this week.
Vonovia is a leading private housing company in Europe. The fusion with Deutsche Wohnen will create a property giant with more than 550,000 apartments, most of them in Germany. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollars) Enditem
