The Real Estate Finance and Investment Funds teams at Gowling WLG, formerly Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co, has advised longstanding client Empiric Student Property plc (Empiric) on a £40 million loan facility.

Empiric has agreed a fixed rate term loan facility of £40 million with Canada Life Investments. The loan will be secured against a portfolio of four forward committed assets on their practical completion, held as a lending group through a wholly owned subsidiary, Empiric Investments (Two) Limited.

Herbert Smith Freehills is delighted to have advised Gateway Lifestyle Group (Gateway) on its A$120 million fully underwritten 2 for 15 accelerated pro rata non-renounceable entitlement offer and institutional placement of stapled securities, comprising units in the Residential Parks No. 2 Trust and shares in Gateway Lifestyle Operations Limited, announced to the ASX on 9 March 2016.

The entitlement offer consists of an accelerated institutional rights issue and a retail rights issue of stapled securities, at an issue price of A$2.40 per new security.

Pinsent Masons has advised longstanding client Redefine Properties on a €1.2bn real estate acquisition.

The deal will see Redefine Properties Limited acquire a 75% stake in a Dutch property vehicle Echo Prime Properties B.V., which indirectly owns a significant portfolio of prime real estate assets in Poland, including the Galeria Echo in Kielce.  The transaction remains subject to relevant European and Polish anti-trust approvals.

WKN AG, a leading developer of wind energy farms based in Germany, concluded a framework agreement with John Laing Investments Ltd at the beginning of the year regarding the future acquisition of international wind energy projects: 50MW in France and 40MW in Poland.

YOUNIQ AG, the leading provider of private student housing in Germany, was merged onto Corestate Ben BidCo AG. In this context, the companies successfully executed a squeeze-out of the minority shareholders of YOUNIQ AG by merger of YOUNIQ AG onto Corestate Ben BidCo AG. Prior to the squeeze-out by merger, Corestate Ben BidCo AG submitted a public mandatory offer which was immediately followed by a public voluntary tender offer to the outstanding shareholders of YOUNIQ AG.

Noerr has advised Allianz Real Estate on establishing a 50:50 joint venture with the real estate developer VGP which is active throughout Europe. Allianz was advised by an interdisciplinary team of Noerr’s Real Estate Investment Group from Noerr offices in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The team was led by the partners Christoph Brenzinger, Dr. Tibor Fedke and Dr. Christoph Spiering.

Berwin Leighton Paisner (Germany) LLP advised Valad Europe on the disposal of a portfolio of seven fully let properties totalling approximately 50,000 sqm of lettable space to the open real estate alternative investment fund BEOS Corporate Real Estate Fund Germany III (“CREFG III”) for over EUR 60 million.

The sale was carried out on behalf of the V+ mandate which Valad Europe has managed since 2013. The properties are located in Düsseldorf, Nuremberg and Puchheim and are used for office and industrial purposes.

King Wood Mallesons has advised wealth management company Mazabi Gestión de Patrimonios on the acquisition of two buildings in the centre of Madrid: the historic Teatro Albéniz and Hotel Madrid.

King & Wood Mallesons has advised the family office Mazabi on a number of deals over the last five years. Mazabi manages a portfolio of more than €750 million distributed between Europe, Latin America and Middle East. The total assets in this most recent acquisition comprise a total area of 13,000 sqm.

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised J. H. Gustav Burmeister GmbH & Co. (“J. H. Gustav Burmeister”) as builder on the financing of Süderfeld Park, a large scale residential project in Hamburg-Lokstedt consisting of 380 flats, 21 town houses, four city mansions and a day nursery. The financing partner was Hamburger Sparkasse and the project manager and developer was Metropol Grund GmbH, who advised on the structuring of the financing and the selection of the lender.

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised AEW Europe, on behalf of the City Retail Fund, on the acquisition of a 750 sqm high end retail asset in central Madrid.

This transaction is the first investment in Spain undertaken by the Fund, which launched with a €125 million first close in November 2015.