ADO said that in order to facilitate the friendly takeover, ADO had raised an additional 27.65 million shares. 91.93% of Adler shareholders accepted the takeover offer.

The combined group, which will be rebranded Adler Real Estate by the summer, owns an €8.5 bn German rental residential portfolio of approximately 80,000 homes. It will be based in Berlin and led by co-CEOs Maximilian Rienecker and Thierry Beaudemoulin.

Through a strategic partnership with German residential developer Consus, the enlarged Adler has access to a pipeline of 15,000 apartments.

The board believes that Germany’s listed multifamily model is moving from a residential management business to residential ownership with a development capability.

Although Vonovia is larger than either Deutsche Wohnen or Adler, it is no longer a pure-play German residential investor, having expanded in the last two years into the Netherlands, Sweden and France.

One of Adler’s first challenges is expected to be an equity raise, to strengthen the merged entity’s balance sheet. When the merger launched last December the stated intention post closure was to launch an up to €500 mln rights issue.

Thierry Beaudemoulin said: “The closing of the business combination is an important milestone on our path to creating one of the largest listed residential real estate companies in Europe. Bringing together our highly complementary portfolios will unlock significant value for shareholders while enhancing our growth prospects.’