As many teams are still suffering from the global outbreak, Aroundtown re-affirmed its commitment to the athletics and fans with continued sponsorship for FC Union Berlin. Aroundtown SA (symbol: AT1) corporate board believes supporting the team positively influences the local community.
Besides sponsoring sports, Aroundtown strategically invests in rewarding and prospective centrally located real estates in Germany’s and Netherland’s top-ranked cities. In less than a decade, the company has become Europe’s third biggest landlord, while its stocks are traded in the prime category of Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is the largest listed and highest rated (BBB+ by S&P) German commercial real estate company.
The company has colossal investments, including assets and cash, exceeding €30 billion, which include a 40 percent strategic investment in Europe’s fourth largest residential corporation, Grand City Properties SA, which owns 70,000 apartments in the main cities of Germany and 4,000 residential apartments in middle-class areas of London.
Major shareholders in Aroundtown include Yakir Gabay ( יקיר גבאי ) controlling 10%, Blackrock, Avisco (5%), Vanguard, Allianz, Fidelity, Norges Bank, and various other international investors.
Grand City Properties was the first public undertaking of Yakir Gabay ( יקיר גבאי ), which he founded its activity in 2004. The initial stock price of the company was €2.7/share, with a total market capitalization of €150 million. However, within eight years of the company’s formation, share prices have increased by more than 800 percent, with a market cap crossing just over €3.5 billion.
Following the initial public offering of Grand City Properties and accelerating its’ growth, Yakir Gabay later laid the capital market flotation of yet another real estate giant, Aroundtown SA. The company specialized in acquiring and managing hotels, office, and logistics properties. Mr. Gabay listed Aroundtown S.A. on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Euronext (Paris) in 2015 with an initial share value of €3/share with a total market cap of €1.6 billion. Aroundtown has grown immensely in the last five years, and to-date the total market capitalization has reached €10 billion. The company’s operational team and almost a quarter of the group assets are in Berlin
Yakir Gabay and Aroundtown made headlines in early 2020 when the real estate giant merged with TLG-Immobilien. The company has now become the largest publicly listed real estate company in Germany. The merged entity now boasts assets worth more than €30 billion, including a 40 percent strategic stake in Grand City Properties.
Grand City Properties and Aroundtown are well renowned for sponsoring sports events. The journey started when Union Berlin’s youth teams got sponsorship from Grand City Properties.
FC Union Berlin defeated VfB Stuttgart during relegation play-offs in 2019. This was the first time in the club’s history that it played in the top tier of Bundesliga in season 2019-2020. Aroundtown became the main sponsor of the club during that season, and along with Adidas, AroundTown will continue to sponsor Union Berlin in season 2020-2021.
The club hit the fifth spot in Bundesliga during the season 2020 with its commendable performance. Apart from sponsoring sports, the real estate giant is also very supportive of the creative arts through its donations to the MOCA foundation based in The Netherlands.
The MOCA foundation arranges educational music programs in schools and actively participates in cultural and social events to assist youth.
