HIAG, Montea and Civitas join FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe Real Estate Index

HIAG Immobilien, Montea and Civitas Social Housing, real estate companies listed on the Zürich, Brussel/Paris and London stock exchanges were accepted yesterday for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe Index, following the quarterly index review. The effective date of the inclusion is 24 September 2018.

“EPRA is pleased to welcome HIAG, Montea and Civitas to the Index, especially as these three companies each represent distinct and diverse sectors. From social housing to industrial and logistic warehouses the inclusion demonstrates the depth and variety that the listed sector offers; the continuing rise and strength of alternatives; as well as the wide geographic spread from UK to Switzerland and to Belgium. The index now includes 107 constituents in Developed Europe, which marks a new high for the leading benchmark and I would like to congratulate the new entrants.”

HIAG Immobilien is a Swiss-based real estate company with a market cap of around EUR 875 million as of 27 August 2018, which specialises in the redevelopment of industrial sites with a long term-perspective. The company’s business strategy is to transpose industrial history into the future in cooperation with tenants, local residents and public authorities.  

Martin Durchschlag, CEO of HIAG , said:“We are very pleased that the leading global index body in real estate has announced it is including HIAG into its EPRA indexes as of September 24. This inclusion is an important step for HIAG to broaden its shareholder base and underpin its strategy of developing sites and building in new cities beyond Switzerland.”

Montea, with a market cap EUR 600 million per 27 August 2018, is one of the leading real estate companies on logistics warehouses and has an in-depth expertise for build and leases in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. In addition to  leasing existing properties, Montea also collaborates with clients to develop ‘build-to-suit’  warehouses as well as structures sale and lease-back solutions.

Jo De Wolf, CEO of Montea, said:“EPRA is the benchmark Index for institutional property investors and we are therefore delighted to be included in the EPRA main listings from September 2018. We are convinced that this inclusion will increase our visibility and tradability in the market and further facilitate our international growth.”

Civitas Social Housing, holding a market cap of EUR 419 million as of 27 August, invests in  the social residential sector in England and Wales through management of large portfolios as well as development of new social houses and works in close collaboration with housing associations and local authorities. Significantly, it is the first REIT listed on the London Stock Exchange which offers a pure exposure to social housing in these markets, representing a solid sector worth GBP 300 billion.

Michael Wrobel, Chairman of Civitas, said:“The inclusion of Civitas in the highly regarded real estate FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Developed Index is a great milestone and should assist in broadening the base of potential investors.” CEO Paul Bridge adds: “This recognises Civitas strong commitment to provide positive social change to those people who are able to benefit from the availability of appropriate, high quality housing.”

The inclusion of Montea, HIAG and Civitas takes the total number of Index constituents to 107. In order to qualify for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe Index the companies had to pass the EUR 208 million free float market capitalisation and EPRA liquidity criteria as well as passing reporting and EBITDA tests.

The Ground Rules for Index inclusion are publicly available on the EPRA website.