FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Activist investor Teleios Capital has asked Germany's Aareal Bank ARLG.DE to examine a full sale of its software business Aareon, after the lender ruled out a such step in the near term.
“We welcome recent reporting which would suggest that Aareal Bank is open to selling its software business Aareon in the medium-term”, Adam Epstein, co-founder of Teleios Capital told Reuters on Tuesday.
“Aareal Bank should now run a competitive, dual-track process for both a full and a minority sale of Aareon in order to make a fully informed decision that maximizes value for all shareholders.”
Teleios has a 5.37% interest in Aareal Bank and just before Christmas wrote a letter to the lender’s supervisory board, expressing concern that management continued to pursue a minority stake sale in Aareon without giving viable alternatives due consideration, a person close to the matter said.
Aareal had no immediate comment.
Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Thomas Seythal
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