Cevdet Caner is a Kurdish-Austrian real estate entrepreneur. He is chief executive of Aggregate Holdings.[1] He is resident in Monaco.[2]
Early life and education
editCaner is the youngest of seven children of immigrants from Turkey. He grew up in Linz,[3] where he attended high school and graduated in 1994.[4]
Caner was active in youth politics, serving as president of the Socialist Youth Austria (SJÖ) in Linz. He founded his first company, CLC, while studying business administration.[5] He left university without a degree after starting the company.[6][7]
Career
editIn 1997, Caner founded Call & Logistik Center GesmbH (CLC) and became its managing director.[5][6] In 2001, he listed CLC on the Vienna Stock Exchange with a turnover of EUR 34 million.[8] CLC then took over the larger call centre group Camelot.[9] Caner sold his shares and left the company three years later.[6] By 2004, CLC was bankrupt and ceased operations shortly afterwards.[3][10]
In 2005, Cevdet Caner founded the real estate holding company Level One, registered on the Channel Island of Jersey.[6] By 2008, the portfolio had grown to around 28,000 residential units[7] with a total value of 1.85 billion euros.[6] Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland and other British firms invested into Level One.[11] Credit Suisse, the largest lender, approved a total of €1.3 billion in loans to Level One, and also served as leading bank for the IPO planned for March 2007.[11] This IPO was postponed, and the second attempt was foiled by the subprime crisis.[11] In 2008, the real estate group filed for bankruptcy for its German property companies.[12] Around 20,000 apartments and 500 commercial properties, primarily in Berlin and eastern Germany, were affected. With debts of EUR 1.5 billion, Level One is considered Germany's largest real estate bankruptcy after Jürgen Schneider, whose bank debts amounted to DM 6 billion in 1994.[13][7] Caner's £20 million London property was repossessed in 2009, the largest property repossession in British history at that time.[5]
On 19 November 2018, a trial against Caner and five other defendants began in Vienna. He was accused of aggravated commercial fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy and money laundering.[10][14] In 2020, he was acquitted of all charges.[15]
In 2022, Caner became shareholder and CEO of Aggregate Holdings SA,[1][16] one of Adler Group's largest shareholders.[17] The extent of Caner's influence within the Adler Group was questioned after conflicting reports about his role within the group.[18][15]
In June 2023, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt am Main and the German Federal Criminal Police Office searched offices of Adler Real Estate on suspicion of false accounting, market manipulation and embezzlement. Caner's offices in London and Monaco were also searched.[19]
References
edit- ^ a b Henning, Eyk; Casiraghi, Luca (2022-07-04). "Caner Takes Stake in Adler's Investor Aggregate, Becomes CEO". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ O'Murchu, Cynthia; Smith, Robert (2021-10-29). "Villain or victim? The mysterious Mr Caner steps out of the shadows". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ a b Laura Benitez (8 October 2021). "Tycoon Behind a Crisis-Era Property Crash Now Sits on a $9 Billion Debt Mountain". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ Thomas Hirschbiegel (12 May 2024). "Holsten-Areal weiter ein Ruinenfeld: Auf den Spuren des Pleite-Investors". mopo.de. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b c Hughes, Mark (2009-06-14). "Tycoon hit by a £20m repossession". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ a b c d e Scheller, Kerstin. "Vom Linzer Jung-Sozi zum Immobilienhai". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ a b c Andreas Wassermann (14 June 2009). "Das Ende einer Heuschrecke". spiegel.de. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ "CLC AG". wienerborse.at. Archived from the original on 1 December 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ Klähn, Andreas (16 November 2011). "Call-Center-Spezialist Camelot von österreichischer Firma übernommen - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ a b "Betrugsprozess gegen Linzer Milliardenpleitier Caner beginnt". derstandard.at. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ a b c "Österreicher Cevdet Caner bringt Credit Suisse in Probleme | boerse-express.com". web-archive-org.translate.goog. 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ Haimann, Richard; Schwaldt, Norbert (27 August 2017). "Immobilien : Riesenpleite auf dem deutschen Wohnungsmarkt - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ "Level One wird nicht verramscht". ftd.de. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ ""145,2 Millionen Euro betrogen": Betrugsprozess gegen Linzer Pleitier ab 19. November". nachrichten.at. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ a b Laura Benitez, Jack Sidders (10 March 2023). "Inside Adler's Fight for Survival After Its 97% Stock Plunge". financialpost.com. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "Property magnate Cevdet Caner joins Aggregate as chief executive". ft.com. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Neuer Chef für den einst größten Adler-Aktionär Aggregate". faz.net. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "'The fool doth think he is wise'". ft.com. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Steven Arons, Karin Matussek (28 June 2023). "Caner Premises Searched in Broad Raid Over Adler Accounting". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 May 2024.