Sydney: Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Australia's Toga Group on a 50:50 joint venture in hotel management and ownership with Singapore's Far East Orchard Limited.

The Toga Group develops hotels, residential apartments and mixed use projects including retail and commercial across Australia, New Zealand and Europe, largely under the Adina, Vibe and Travelodge brands. This is the third corporate transaction that the Sydney team has completed for Toga Group in recent years.

Trowers & Hamlins has acted for Jafton Properties Limited in a key case on collective enfranchisement.
Judgement in the country court case was handed down on 16 April 2013 in Smith and Dennis v Jafton Properties Limited.

The Leeds office of national law firm, Irwin Mitchell, has advised Henry Boot Developments on its deal to acquire the former Terry’s chocolate factory in York.

The historic, 27-acre site, dubbed ‘The Chocolate Works’, has been bought by Henry Boot Developments together with York housebuilder, David Wilson Homes, from owners GHT Developments (Grantside) for an undisclosed sum.

Tokyo: Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised MGPA on behalf of  MGPA Asien Spezialfonds, which targets German-speaking institutional investors on two property investments in Japan. The investments comprise the acquisition of two Tokyo office buildings, South Shin Otsuka building in Otsuka and Shinjuku TX building in Shinjuku. These transactions are MGPA Asien Spezialfonds first investments in Japan with both transactions closing in March. The fund is launched on the administration platform of the German investment company Universal-Investment.

Clifford Chance has advised ING Real Estate Finance on the refinancing of a € 70.5 million loan to W.P. Carey, an American listed property fund. The financing concerns a real estate portfolio of six distribution centres in the Netherlands that were leased in a sale and leaseback transaction in 2011 to Jumbo (at the time C1000). The refinancing includes a seven year extension of the term of the loan, the resignation of BAWAG as lender and the accession of Pricoa Mortgage Capital, part of the American US Prudential Financial, as new lender.

Slaughter and May's Hong Kong office is advising Hengli Commercial Properties (Group) Limited ('Hengli'), a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, on the disposal of a significant part of its interests in its subsidiaries to its controlling shareholder, Mr. Chen Chang Wei ('Mr. Chen'), for a consideration of approximately HK$1,311 million (US$168 million). The disposal constitutes a very substantial disposal and a connected transaction for Hengli under the Hong Kong Listing Rules. Completion of the disposal is a condition to the sale by Mr.

Linklaters advised the group of investors acquiring about 92% of the shares in GWB, the residential real estate subsidiary of BayernLB, in a bidding process led by the real estate investment company Patrizia. Additionally, further share packages will be transferred to the syndicate of 27 investors, including Münchner Lebensversicherung WWK, Stuttgarter WGV Versicherungen and Sparkassenversicherung. In total, the investors’ share in GBW will thus be about 96.5% in the future.

Allen & Overy LLP hat die PATRIZIA Alternative Investments GmbH, eine hundertprozentige Tochter der PATRIZIA Immobilien AG, als Konsortialführer beim Erwerb der Aktienmehrheit an der GBW AG von der Bayerischen Landesbank (BayernLB) beraten.

Watson, Farley & Williams (WFW), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised Fondshaus Hamburg Immobilien (FHHI) on the acquisition by its fund FHH Immobilien 15 – Studieren & Wohnen II of majority stakes of two of GBI AG’s property management companies.

Ashurst has advised Clough Limited (Clough) on the fully underwritten sale of its 36% shareholding in Forge Group Limited (Forge), to raise gross proceeds of approximately A$187 million.

Clough entered into a Block Trade Agreement with Macquarie Capital (Australia) Limited (Macquarie) for the fully underwritten sale of its shares in Forge, at a price of A$6.05 per share.

Lead partner on the matter, Sarah Dulhunty, said: "It was a pleasure to work with Clough to help execute this transaction and to assist it in achieving its strategic objectives."