German corporate raider targets €1bn fund
Clemens Vedder, the German investor who hit the headlines at the turn of the century by building up a stake in Commerzbank, is targeting €700m ($901m) to €1bn of assets for a private equity fund.
The Whitesmith fund will invest in retail, consumer products and financial institutions, according to Vedder.
He said there will be good opportunities to invest in European insurers as the industry consolidates: “If you look at the insurance markets in Europe, the bigger insurers will buy the smaller over the next three years, especially in Germany, Austria, Holland and Switzerland.”
He is targeting institutional and private investors with the fund, but declined to reveal more details. The move marks a return to the spotlight for Vedder, who backed The Cobra Group, which built up a 10% stake in Commerzbank in 2000.
At the time, Cobra was widely expected to mount a bid for the bank, but instead it kept the shares and Vedder made a profit when he sold out in early 2006.
He now runs an investment firm, Goldsmith Investments, which made its investors money last year, according to Vedder, thanks in part to his decision to avoid taking on leverage.
Vedder, who owns stakes in several German corporations, including the majority of listed photographic art trader Camera Work, is making waves in the German real estate market. Through Goldsmith he has built up a stake in German real estate group IVG Immobilien.
Vedder has built a 3% holding in the €500m business, according to a filing by the company in December. He said he plans to grow the stake, but will not try to take a majority holding unless market conditions change.
He said: “I think right now is a good time to go in. IVG is trading at a tenth of what it was a year ago.” He also has plans for real estate and infrastructure funds, but declined to reveal any more details.
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