Goldman Sachs Sells GAGFAH Shares

Allan Saunderson is managing editor of Property Finance Europe and a contributor to GlobeSt.com.

ESSEN, GERMANY-Shares in GAGFAH, Germany’s largest listed housing company controlled by US private equity group Fortress Investment, have been heavily traded in recent weeks, with various media reporting that 12.5 million in stock – around 5.5% of the outstanding capital – was recently sold by Goldman Sachs for an unnamed institution at a price of €5.50 per share.

A GAGFAH spokesman said the group had no notification of any change in voting rights despite the size of the transaction. The share was last trading around €6. The reports said Fortress, which cut its stake at the end of March to 60% of equity from a prior 70%, was not the seller of the latest packet. The second largest shareholder is Highbridge Capital, a unit of JP Morgan, which most recently reporting holding 5.24%. The investment bank Morgan Stanley has downgrade the stock to Underweight, with a target price of €2.90.