Scout24's Stock Rises as Takeover Rumours Swirl

The German real estate portal operator Scout24 saw its share price shoot up by 14% on Friday as rumours that the company was going to be taken private circulated.

Having traded between €49 and €54 per share since late January, the Munich-based company's share price rose to €59 per share on Friday afternoon. According to DealReporter, private equity firms Hellman & Friedman, EQT and Permira are all in the running to take the portal company private.

Back in 2019 the possibility of Scout24 going private in the wake of its autos vertical sell-off was mooted with many of the same parties interested. Ultimately though, a bid by Hellman and Friedman along with Blackstone came up short.

Since then, EQT, in particular, has entered into the real estate portal business with its $1.5 billion takeover of Spanish portal group Idealista and as a result, may now be a frontrunner in the event that Scout24 decides to go private.

Any possible takeover candidate would have to pay a premium on the current share price to convince shareholders to accept a bid. One JP Morgan analyst was quoted as speculating that a takeover bid of €80 per share could be possible.

Scout24 is no doubt attractive to investors not only for its leading position in the German real estate market but also thanks to its diversified revenue stream. The company has undergone a transformation over the last two years and now has a suite of products that monetize all customer types in German real estate transactions.