Eurohypo is a European real estate bank and based in Eschborn, Frankfurt. Eurohypo is 100% owned by Commerzbank. It is the eleventh-largest bank in Germany with a balance sheet of € 214.2 billion in 2007. [1]
Eurohypo AG is a leading international specialist bank for real estate and public finance. The bank is also the Pfandbrief issuer within the Commerzbank Group. Eurohypo’s business model is based on a common platform of real estate and public finance. Bloomberg News termed Eurohypo "problematic" and that it might be transferred to a "bad bank" within Germany's bank rescue fund SoFFin in an effort to help repair Commerzbank's capital deficit.[2]
The Real Estate division of the company includes commercial real estate financing in Germany as well as numerous countries in Europe, the USA and Asia.
The Public Finance division covers
• Conventional public sector lending, i.e. central governments, federal states and municipalities or borrowers guaranteed by these
• Financing and consulting for public private partnership projects, as a “Centre of Competence” within the Commerzbank Group
• Pfandbrief refinancing and covered pool management
The business division Treasury is in particular responsible for:
• fulfilment of guidelines in regards to covered pool management
• refinancing of the commercial real estate portfolio
Commercial Real Estate Lending through the credit crisis. Eurohypo has had a mixed performance during the recession, as shown in its 2010 results published on 24th February 2011.[3]
On 6 November 2001 the three major German private-sector banks – Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank – announced at a joint press conference, together with the Management Boards of their mortgage bank subsidiaries, their intention to merge their shareholdings in the “old” Eurohypo, Rheinhyp and Deutsche Hyp.
"We want to be a leading provider of commercial property finance in Germany and Europe", phrased Dr. Karsten von Köller, member of the Management Board of Rheinhyp and first Chairman of Eurohypo AG, the objective of the merger back then. The merger agreements were signed on 29 April 2002. In June the Annual General Meetings of all three institutions voted in favour of the merger and on 13 August 2002 the new Eurohypo AG was registered in the Commercial Register of the City of Frankfurt am Main.
The new bank built on old foundations – the histories of the oldest predecessor institutions, the Deutsche Hypothekenbank and the Frankfurter Hypothekenbank date back to 1862 – went from the very beginning to become a global player. It has been a frontline player in the global property business ever since.
The main reason for the merger was the opportunity to become the strongest provider of property and government finance in European financial and capital markets and to act as a benchmark issuer on the capital markets.
As part of the merger, Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank in Germany integrated their negotiable commercial property finance businesses. Deutsche Bank integrated its portion of domestic property centres into the new bank. Furthermore the Real Estate Investment Banking Team (REIB) of Deutsche Bank in London and the REIB Team of Dresdner Bank in the USA were absorbed.
Comprehensive know-how and many years of experience have thus been bundled in the highly complex property finance segment. Eurohypo provides this benefit to professional investors to enable them to implement major financings.
Given its mixed bank status and its size, the new bank had a considerable advantage over its competitors right from the start: whilst pure mortgage banks were subject to statutory restrictions, Eurohypo was able to offer its clients the full range of property finance products.
The new Pfandbrief Act has been in force since July 2005. It plays a part in enhancing the attractiveness of the German Pfandbrief and ensuring high quality, security and transparency standards now and in the future. As market leader, Eurohypo benefits from this when issuing German Pfandbriefe.
Commerzbank has been considering to acquire Eurohypo for some time. In preparation for the takeover, a meeting between the Management Boards of Commerzbank, Allianz and Deutsche Bank took place on 10 November 2005. The agreements to sell the shares to Commerzbank were signed on 16 November 2005. Thus Commerzbank acquired a subsidiary, which is not only the largest Pfandbrief issuer in Europe, but has also become the most important player in the European securitisation business and market leader in Syndicated Loans.
In January 2010, Eurohypo became the new owner of Paradise Valley’s Intercontinental Montelucia Resort and Spa in Arizona for $122 million.[4]
http://www.eurohypo.com/en/site/header/unternehmen/unternehmenskultur/historie_1/index.php