Guy Hands pulls German property float Guy Hands, the British private equity financier, has abandoned the flotation of Germany's largest residential landlord over concerns that the recent rally in European equities has run its course. Deutsche Annington, the 180,000-unit property portfolio owned by Mr Hands" Terra Firma, had been due to list in Frankfurt on Wednesday. In a brief statement on Tuesday night, however, the company said it was pulling the offering due to "persistent adverse market conditions." The decision to cancel the IPO, which was expected to raise about €1bn and value the landlord at €11bn including debt, will be a blow to Mr Hands, who has long sought an exit from the company he built up during the property boom. Mr Hands is seeking to return cash to investors before Terra Firma starts raising a new fund. Like other financiers and fund managers, Mr Hands fears the uncertainty over quantitative easing has brought the rally in European stocks to an end. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the US central bank is looking at bringing the policy to an end in what he called tapering off the financial injections, which have propped up the markets since QE was introduced by the US in 2009. Last month saw the first outflows in equity and bond funds this year as investors scrambled to switch money into the safety of cash or even bank deposits, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management. One bank strategist said: "All markets, from initial public offerings, property and equity could be hit by this signal that this exceptional policy is coming to an end. Mr Hands is in the same boat as everyone else. It has cast a cloud over the market. The move also underlines investors" cooling sentiment towards German residential property, which has enjoyed a period of sustained interest due to its low vacancy rates and stable rental returns. The FTSE EPRA/Nareit index of German property stocks has fallen 10 per cent this year, having risen 33 per cent in 2012.