DaimlerChrysler sells former Group
headquarters in Stuttgart-Möhringen to IXIS Capital Partners Ltd
Photo: DaimlerChrysler
DaimlerChrysler has sold the
Group’s former headquarters in Stuttgart-Möhringen to IXIS
Capital Partners Ltd.. DaimlerChrysler will lease back the
property for a period of 15 years with the option of reducing
the volume of leased floor space starting in year 11. The Group
will continue to use the Stuttgart-Möhringen campus over the
long term, but plans to gradually move out of other rented
office space in the Stuttgart region. The persons working in
those properties will then be moved to Stuttgart-Möhringen
following the relocation of the Board of Management and some
administrative departments from there to the new Group
headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim. The real estate in
Stuttgart-Möhringen comprises land of 120,000 square meters with
13 buildings and approximately 107,000 square meters of rentable
floor space. At present, around 2,700 people work in these
buildings.
The cash inflow will amount to
approximately € 240 million. The operating profit generated by
the sale will be reported distributed over the years of the
leaseback, in accordance with US GAAP. It will be an eight-digit
figure (in euros) for each year, and will amount to €18 million
in the year 2006. The transfer of ownership will take place in
the fourth quarter of this year, subject to the approval of the
antitrust authorities, and the cash flow will also be booked in
this period.
.
As a result of a review of
its real-estate portfolio, DaimlerChrysler assessed the
real estate in Stuttgart-Möhringen as being not required
for operating purposes. The review is a part of the
current activities for improving efficiency and
optimizing the portfolio with the goal of increasing the
Group’s return on net assets (RONA).
