King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has advised longstanding client British Land in supporting Blackstone’s disposal of its 50% interest in the flagship Broadgate development in conjunction with establishing a new joint venture between British Land and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

The deal involving Broadgate, a 30 acre City of London office campus, is one of the highest profile corporate real estate transactions ever seen and is GIC’s largest real estate investment in Europe to date.

GIC's involvement secures continued support for British Land’s plans to further redevelop and revitalise Broadgate, which has benefitted from the transformation of 950,000 square feet of space in the last four years and is home to major tenants such as UBS, ICAP and Deutsche Bank. Broadgate is expected to benefit both from the opening of the new Crossrail station in 2018 and from other improvements in the surrounding area.

Darren Rogers, Real Estate partner at King & Wood Mallesons, said: “Our long relationship with British Land and understanding of its commercial objectives in relation to Broadgate, enabled all three parties to complete a highly complex and demanding transaction within a tight timetable for a deal of this scale and importance. The deal is a further barometer of the growing attractiveness of UK real estate as a global asset class and the importance of in-bound investment from Asia."

The King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin team of over 40 partners and associates was led by Real Estate partner Darren Rogers and Corporate partners Delphine Currie and Michael Goldberg. They were supported by partners Heather Corben (Tax), Elaine Gibson-Bolton (EU, Competition & Regulatory) and Jeremy Cross (Finance).

The deal is the culmination of a period of sustained activity over the last 12 months which has highlighted King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin’s expertise in transactions involving investment from Asia into Europe.  Over the year, the team has led on Invesco’s disposal of 1 Finsbury Circus to China Overseas Holdings Limited, British Land’s sale of Ropemaker Place to an AXA led consortium for £472 million and China Investment Corporation/Invesco’s joint venture acquisition and refinancing of Winchester House, the Deutsche Bank London HQ.