Clifford Chance assisted Allianz Real Estate Germany GmbH, Frankfurt am Main/Stuttgart, on the first investment Allianz made in a shopping centre in Poland. Lawyers from Clifford Chance offices in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Warsaw and Amsterdam advised on the structure of the joint venture and the related contracts.

The international consortium of investors which was led by Allianz acquires the Polish shopping centre "Silesia City Center" in Katowice from a subsidiary of Austrian Immofinanz. The centre is comprised of more than 360 retail shops and has a sales area of approx. 85,000 sqm. The purchase price amounts to approximately EUR 400 million. ECE will take on the property management of the centre, and is also a partner in the joint venture.

The transaction is subject to the approval from the competent antitrust authorities.

Allianz Real Estate Germany is responsible for the real estate investments and asset management of the Allianz insurance group in Germany, Austria, East Europe and Scandinavia. The real estate portfolio managed by it is worth approx. EUR 5 billion.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Dr. Christian Keilich and included senior associate Henning Aufderhaar (both Real Estate), partner Christine Koziczinski, associates Stefan Bruder and Carmen Büker (all Corporate), partners Dr. Jan Grabbe and Marco Simonis (both Tax) – all Frankfurt – as well as partner Marc Besen (Antitrust, Dusseldorf). It also included a team in the Warsaw office, led by partner Daniel Kopania (Real Estate), and in the Amsterdam office, led by partner Tom van Duuren (Corporate).

http://www.cliffordchance.com/news/news/2013/05/clifford_chance_advisedallianzonajointventureforitsfirstparticip.html