Mayer Brown advises AEW Europe and Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the acquisition of Festival Place shopping centre

London - Mayer Brown has advised AEW Europe, a leading European real estate investment manager and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the acquisition of Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

The 1.1 million sq ft shopping centre was purchased from TH Real Estate on behalf of a partnership between AEW Europe and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

Shoosmiths has advised TH Real Estate (THRE) on the disposal of Festival Place Shopping Centre in Basingstoke, one of the UK's largest single site real estate deals of 2015.

Shoosmiths, newly confirmed as UK Law Firm of the Year in the 2015 British Legal Awards, was appointed by THRE to act on the sale having been involved on the scheme since acting on its purchase in 2012. The 1.1m sq. ft. shopping centre was acquired by AEW Europe.

Herbert Smith Freehills is advising Investa Office Fund (IOF) on its proposed A$2.52 billion acquisition by the DEXUS Property Group (DEXUS). If successful, the acquisition will create a combined entity with a total of A$23.4 billion in assets under management.

IOF is an ASX-listed real estate investment trust (A-REIT) with a total of A$3.1 billion in assets and 22 investments located throughout Australia.

Hannes Snellman has been engaged as counsel to YIT Corporation in the Mall of Tripla shopping centre project. YIT and Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Onvest Oy, Fennia Mutual Insurance Company, and Fennia Life Insurance Company Ltd have signed a letter of intent on the establishment of a joint venture for the implementation of the Mall of Tripla and its parking facilities. The overall value of the shopping mall and the parking facility – the largest ever single asset transaction - is approximately EUR 600 million.

Gide has advised Swiss Life Reim on the acquisition of a portfolio of three 4-star hotels, located in the centre of Paris, from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and from Paris Inn Group.

The Gide team comprises partner Nadège Nguyen and Alice Mayer on corporate aspects; partner Laurent Modave and Alexandre Bochu on tax aspects; counsel Laetitia Lemercier and Aurélien de Casteja on financing aspects.

Together with our financial law and restructuring experts we represented Green Real Estate, a subsidiary of a large Dutch retail family business Zeeman, on the negotiations between ROC Leiden, the Ministry of Education, Culture & Science, Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (Dutch Municipal Bank, BNG), ID College en the Municipality of Leiden, regarding the restructuring of the contracts and financing of ROC Leiden that will be taken over by ID College.

Houthoff Buruma team included: Marry de Gaay Fortman

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advises DEXUS in acquiring the stapled securities in the Investa Office Fund.

DEXUS, Australia’s biggest listed office landlord, has secured the deal through entry into a implementation agreement under which stapled securityholders would receive 0.4240 DEXUS Securities and $0.8229 cash per each security if the proposal is approved at a meeting of members expected to be in March 2016.

The KWM team was led by partner Susan Hilliard, supported by senior associates Daniel Natale, Amanda Isouard and Miriam Kleiner.

DLA Piper advises Market Tech Holdings on its £900 million financing of its Camden Markets Portfolio

DLA Piper has advised Market Tech Holdings on its £900 million secured debt facility arranged by AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited.  Market Tech Holdings owns 14 acres of iconic London real estate assets, including the main Camden Markets, with digital capabilities to deliver commercial, residential, living, leisure and retail space.

Noerr has again advised Vonovia SE on a large portfolio transaction on the German real estate market. The Dax company intends to purchase 2,400 residential units from a joint venture held by the British real estate group Grainger and the US private equity firm Heitmann. The transaction is envisaged to be completed by year-end.

Linklaters advises Vonovia on the issue of bonds with a total value of three billion euros

Linklaters advised Vonovia on the issue of bonds with a total value of three billion euros. The Eurobonds were issued in three instalments. The coupons have an average interest rate of 1.69 per cent per year and an average maturity of over five years. This transaction marks the largest Eurobond issue in the real estate market to date.