Why Adler’s Murky Tale Fuels Fears About Real Estate: QuickTake

Adler Group SA, one of Germany’s biggest home landlords, grew rapidly over the past decade on the back of a real estate boom, a series of audacious takeovers and a debt pile that at one point reached about 8 billion euros ($9.1 billion). An October report by short seller Fraser Perring’s Viceroy Research alleging that Adler is “built on systemic dishonesty” sent its stock and bonds plunging, even as the company denied the allegations. The moves prompted a sell-off in the bonds of Adler’s peers as well, as investors began questioning more broadly the surge in real estate values ...