Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised China City Construction (International) Co., Ltd (the Issuer) on its inaugural RMB2.5bn (US$400m) bond issue.
The Issuer is a wholly owned subsidiary of China City Construction Holdings Group Company Limited (CCCC) and effectively 98.53% owned by a ministry under the State Council.
DLA Piper has advised the shareholders of GVA Grimley Holdings (GVA) one of the UK's largest commercial property consultants, on its sale to Bilfinger SE, an international engineering and services group based in Germany.
GVA is the UK's largest independent commercial property consultant. Headquartered in London and with 12 offices and 700 fee earners across the UK, GVA offers the country's largest and most diverse multidisciplinary property consultancy outside of the capital.
Nabarro has played a central role in advising Land Securities on its £656m acquisition from Lend Lease of a 30% stake in Bluewater, the iconic, Kent shopping centre. In addition, Land Securities has acquired the asset management rights for the centre and 110 acres of surrounding land.
Bluewater is the UK’s prime retail mall outside London attracting 27 million visitors a year in one of the most affluent areas of the country. The centre totals 1.8 million sq. ft. and is home to over 330 retailers, cafes, bars and restaurants and includes 13,000 parking spaces.
Linklaters has advised Lend Lease on the £696m sale of its 30% interest in the Bluewater Shopping Centre to Land Securities. The Linklaters team was led by corporate partner Roger Barron and corporate managing associate Tom Watkins, real estate partners Andy Bruce and Martin Elliott and litigation partner Katie Bradford.
Dentons’ Global Real Estate team acted for AFI Europe on the €220 million refinancing of AFI Palace Cotroceni located in Bucharest, Romania. The negotiations of the transaction, which may be the largest scale financing transaction in the region during the last few years, with a consortium of four banks (Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisen Bank SA), was completed in record time and is considered by AFI Europe and Dentons a major achievement.
DLA Piper has acted as legal adviser to Campus Living Villages (CLV), the project sponsor in respect of the project to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a 648 bed student accommodation facility located at the University of Melbourne. DLA Piper advised CLV on all aspects of the transaction including the project deed with the University of Melbourne, financing arrangements with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, construction contracts with Watpac and ancillary documents.
Ashurst advised GDP Vendôme in connection with the sale of its shares in DVD Participations to funds managed by PAI Partners. GDP Vendôme sold 48% of the share capital, which it has held in DVD Participations (DomusVi) since 2011. The share purchase agreement was signed on 19 June 2014.
The remaining 50% of the share capital was held by DV France.
Linklaters has advised the Emaar Malls Group LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC, on its inaugural $750 million 10 year debut Sukuk issue. Emaar Malls is the operator of numerous malls, shopping centres and other retail shopping developments in Dubai, including The Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest shopping malls.
The benchmark offering was managed by 11 international and regional investment banks and the Sukuk have been admitted to the NASDAQ Dubai market.
A Dentons Corporate and Real Estate team advised 421 Kent Development in obtaining a US$165 million multi-draw senior secured credit facility. Secured from an affiliate of New York investment management firm Fortress Investment Group, the loan supports the construction of a 216-unit luxury residential condominium project in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Documentation for the facility closed on June 10, 2014.
DLA Piper has advised global asset management company Blackstone on the acquisition of a logistics portfolio. The logistics portfolio, located in France and Germany, comprises of 17 platforms and approximately 750,000 sq.m. and is intended to become part of Blackstone's logistics unit Logicor. The portfolio was aquired from Foncière des Régions, a French listed real estate investment trust.