Management buy-out at real estate group Multi

The CEOs of real estate group Multi are taking over their company, with the help of investor Blackstone. They want to diversify Multi from a retail real estate specialist into a company with wider interests, such as residential buildings.

Diversification

Co-CEOs Elmar Schoonbrood and Steven Poelman have taken over the Multi Corporation, a Dutch real estate specialist that manages more than eighty buildings in thirteen European countries, including the Stadsfeestzaal in Antwerp and the Forum in Rotterdam. The new owners now also want to expand into other types of real estate and enter into new partnerships.

“Multi is a leading property and asset manager with direct relationships with the 6,000 tenants in our portfolio, which gives us a competitive edge over our peers“, brand-new co-owner Steven Poelman explains. As for further developments, Poelman is thinking of renovating existing shopping centres, but also of converting retail and office buildings to residential use. Concrete plans are still being worked out, however.

Investor Blackstone provided the necessary funds to realise the takeover. However, the company does not disclose the amounts involved in the management buy-out. The value of the new-build real estate projects developed by Multi alone is estimated at thirteen billion euros.