German real estate group Project has really been feeling the effects of the struggling real estate market, with a number of the group’s companies having filed for bankruptcy.
Germany’s real estate market has been experiencing a decline in demand due to rising construction costs and high interest rates, and the construction industry is starting to feel the effects of this. Several companies belonging to the Project Immobilien Group recently filed for bankruptcy. Nuremberg’s district court – the Amtsgericht Nürnberg – opened preliminary insolvency proceedings against the companies Project Immobilien Wohnen und Gewerbe GmbH (case ref.: IN 978/23), Project Immobilien Management GmbH (case ref.: IN 977/23), and Project Immobilien Projektentwicklungs GmbH (case ref.: IN 999/23) on August 10 and 11, 2023. The working assumption of the provisional insolvency administrators is that a bankruptcy petition for the holding company Project Real Estate AG will soon follow.
In addition to Project Immobilien, the group has a second wing, Project Investment, whose responsibilities include managing and marketing real estate investments. This is the channel through which private and institutional investors have been able to participate in real estate projects. The Project Investment Group has launched numerous real estate – or real estate development – funds to date. Information on Project Investment’s homepage indicates that the funds are valued at approximately 1.4 billion euros.
While the Project Investment Group was not initially affected by bankruptcies, the company Project Vermittlungs GmbH has since filed for bankruptcy as well, meaning that the investment group has now also been engulfed in the wave of bankruptcies. Investors in Project funds who are alarmed by these developments can enlist the team of capital markets experts at MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte to review their legal options.
According to the provisional insolvency administrators, the Project Immobilien Group currently manages around 60 real estate projects throughout Germany. The bankruptcies have been attributed to the sharp increase in construction costs in the wake of the war in Ukraine, and the expectation is that business operations will continue in spite of the bankruptcy petitions. The provisional insolvency administrators have also disclosed that the question of whether the building projects can be continued is also being looked at.
Even though the real estate and fund management companies are not directly affected, the bankruptcies could at least have an indirect impact on them. Given the challenging market conditions, one possible consequence is that the properties could drop in value.
Concerned investors can turn to the team of legal experts at MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte in matters of capital market law.
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