Ashurst advised residential property portfolio developer Noratis AG as transaction counsel on its successful initial public offering in the scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The gross issue proceeds together with the over-allotment option amounted to €18.75 million. The company plans to use the proceeds of the capital increase primarily for the further financing of its growth, providing it with more flexibility to take advantage of acquisition opportunities for real estate.

Noratis AG is a real estate company, focussing on the acquisition of residential properties in Germany, primarily in small to medium-sized cities or in peripheral regions of metropolitan areas and cities. It upgrades and re-positions residential properties with the aim of selling them after two or three years or keeping them in its inventory.

The Ashurst team was led by partner Matthias von Oppen with the support of associate Joanna Wilcynska-Gluch and senior associate Dr Ian M. Maywald (all corporate finance, Frankfurt). In addition, the transaction team was assisted by counsel Dr Gerrit Clasen (corporate) in the context of the conversion of the issuer into a stock corporation and alignment of the corporate governance and by senior associate Michael Mehler and associate Felix Bergfort with respect to real estate law in the course of the legal due diligence.

The advice comprised all legal aspects of the preparation and completion of the IPO. These included the change of the legal form of the company to stock corporation and the creation of a company structure which is compatible with the capital market as well as the drafting of the underlying transaction documentation, including the securities prospectus.

ICF Bank AG was acting as sole global coordinator and sole bookrunner of the IPO.

Thus, following the IPO of IBU-tec advanced materials AG on 30 March of this year, Ashurst also advised on the second stock market debut in the newly created Scale segment for small and medium-sized growth companies.