Guy Hands restarts float of German property arm

Guy Hands’s property group Deutsche Annington today revived plans to list its shares on the German stock market.

It hopes to raise almost €600 million (£520 million) from the IPO, compared to an original target of up to €1.2 billion, reflecting tougher market conditions.

Deutsche Annington, which is owned by Hands’ Terra Firma private equity group, scrapped its first attempt to list in Frankfurt last week after a month of falls in global markets.

It plans to offer institutional investors 34.8 million shares in a price range of €16.50 to €17, down from a previous range of €18 to €21.

Its shares should start trading on Thursday.

“We are pleased to re-launch the IPO process of Deutsche Annington today,” boss Rolf Buch said. “While the implementation of our operating strategy continues well on track, a successful IPO enables us to accelerate the diversification of our funding.”

Hands hopes to return part of the money raised to Terra Firma investors. He is attempting to rebuild shareholder confidence in him following his disastrous £4 billion takeover of record label EMI back in 2007.